This article reflects on the assumptions we make in the design of faculty and graduate student orientations and on the implementation of redesigned orientations that foreground participant narrative. When educational developers purposefully make space for participant stories at their orientations, it is a way not only to share power with graduate students and faculty but also to create a more inclusive environment and sense of belonging. We offer a reflection on educational developer and participant experiences of small narrative interventions in graduate student and faculty orientations at our university in 2021. We find that through foregrounding story sharing we were able to shift from assimilation to acculturation by including, cultivating, and honoring diverse views, creating community, and promoting agency.