What colour is your ORHA?!
They tell you that it's going to be a life-changing experience, but you brush it off- "I'm just going for a good time. It's only a weekend. How can your life change in a weekend?"
Then a revelation hits you Saturday night and, suddenly, everything is different. :)
Friday
I started having second thoughts about going to the conference on Friday. I was throwing myself into an intensely social situation, something I had resisted doing so far this year. I was forcing myself to get out there and make connections. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but on Friday I wasn't sure. But I packed my suitcase like a good little girl and was on time when the vans were supposed to leave. Unfortunately, we had a little car trouble, but we were finally on our way at a quarter to five. We packed into the vans, junk and all, and were ready to go. I wasn't feeling the spirit yet. I was still nervous. I was still thinking, "can I ask Sandra to turn the van around and take me back?" However, my fellow vanees were fantastic and made me laugh the hardest I had in a long time. :-D Singing along to every song under the sun, Kareem yelling at the truckers with his megaphone...so many memories. As it well should be, as it's nearly a six-hour drive from Windsor to Barrie.
Upon arriving in Barrie (we were late), we went directly to the open ceremonies. Windsor's role call, based on "YMCA" but written as "ORHA", was seriously amazing and made me feel glad to be there for Windsor. That was the first time I've really felt school spirit since I got here. I really felt connected, proud of my school.
Friday night- I was already too tired to socialize. *g* But I did make some connection with the Windsor kids before I fell asleep around 2. No one else went to bed until 4ish. The Georgian rez kids, upset that we were taking over their lounges, pulled the fire alarm at 4:30. But did we despair? NO. All 170 delegates tromped outside with the rest of the residence students, huddled in circles with our sleeping bags (and Kareem with his megaphone) and began to cheer. We cheered until our throats were raw. We cheered with the snow and the fire truck sirens. We had spirit battles back and forth between schools, we did action cheers together, we had a fantastic time even though we were stuck outside in the cold. It was the best fire drill I ever had, that's for sure. :-D
Saturday
Up early for breakfast. But it wasn't that bad. We'd all been through the same thing, none of us had slept. Windsor delegates made sure we split up and tried to meet people during breakfast. I was still in my "I'm horrible with dealing with people mindset." My table ended up full of McMaster students, and I didn't speak to a single one, other than to say the seat wasn't taken. I was still telling myself "That's just not me. I'm just quiet."
Afterwards, we had an *amazing* keynote presentation from Sunjay Nath. It was incredibly inspiring, and yet it was about things we've all heard before. Have a positive attitude, etc. He arranged it in a different way, full of excitement and personal anecdotes. He was simply a fantastic speaker, and I'm incredibly happy that I got a chance to hear him speak.
Afterwards, I attended a program on Feng Shui in your rez room. Nothing I can do to help mine, considering the sucky space. Ah well. C'est la vie. :) After that, we were divided into "colour groups" to do an activity. The groups were mixed schools- met someone who used to cottage in my hometown who goes to Guelph. :) We went on a scavenger hunt around the college, taking pictures and stuff along the way. It was a great time. :-D I was beginning to feel more open, but was definitely still reserved. Glad I came by this point, I guess, but not wild-craziness.
Hmm. Just for posterity's sake, the rest of the day consisted of- lunch, a presentation on Leadership for Social Change (inspiring. Really. Really helped illustrate the every little bit counts concept, and inspire that you can take baby steps to reach a bigger goal, another colour group meeting in which I learned how to play the nose whistle (seriously.), a program on communication in which I played with Play-Doh, going back to rez with the rest of the Windsor delegates to get dressed up for dinner, and dinner with the Windsor crew.
After dinner, we sat down as a delegation and just talked about the conference so far and things like that. I actually was curled up in a ball asleep on a couch for a lot of that discussion, but when I woke up at one point Harmony waved me over and pulled up a chair for me. As I was sitting down, one girl told her story of why she's so enthusiastic about coming to university and living in rez. She's one of the most amazing and enthusiastic people I know, yet many people in her life told her she wouldn't ever make it to university. She was born with a cleft palette, which, even after surgeries, caused speech problems and hearing loss. Plus, she's nearly blind. But she's here. And she's doing amazing. I couldn't help by think to myself "Ness, you've had all the advantages in the world. And yet what are you doing with yourself? NOTHING. No connections. No friendships. Barely any spirit. What *are* you?!" It made me think, at least.
We had a coffeehouse afterwards. I saw people hugging and laughing and talking. I suddenly started to cry and had to sit in the washrooms for a while. I was just feeling sorry for myself, but it turned into a revelation for me. I've done NOTHING. I have no connections. Nothing to show for so many months of school, for so many months of residence life. It just all came pouring down on me at once. But here....*here* were the people I'd been looking for all year. Not just from the other schools, but from Windsor! The people who have intelligent discussions and ideas and thoughts and aren't stupid and immature! I've just been in the wrong building the entire time! I finally stop crying when I realize that I have a chance. I can salvage this year. I can spend the next six weeks making as many connections as I can, starting with this conference, and make something of this year.
So I did.
I went back out there and sat at a table full of Windsor students. I walked back to residence soon after with another girl from dred and talking about the conference in general and the programs being offered. I spent much of the night travelling from lounge to lounge where the different schools were staying. I played cards, watched movies, did cheers, and stole their chips. I went back to Windsor's lounge and had a loooong discussion with another girl about res, the conference, etc. We have been talking lots since and my MSN convo with her is currently flashing. *g* I completely opened up that night. It was an incredible feeling...I went to sleep happy and excited about the next day, even the rest of the year. That's a feeling I haven't had in a long time.
The fire alarm was again pulled at 4:30am. The immature kids at Georgian set off cherry bombs and firecrackers in the stairwells while we were trying to evacuate and locked the delegates in the 6th floor lounge in the room with a bike lock. Another delegate who happened to peek in an open door on the stairwell is the one who got them out. It was scary stuff. Yet, when we all got out there, we still cheered. We still made noise and made the best of it, no matter how tired and upset at the alarm we were.We huddled together to keep warm. It was a fantastic bonding experience.
Sunday
The last day...but I wasn't really all that upset about leaving conference. I had learned something important about myself. I had made connections to take back to my own school.
Morning consisted of- packing, breakfast, a program in which I wandered around a maze for a long time, pizza lunch, mingling, closing cermonies.
The trip home was great. :D The people in my car were hilarious, even when half of them were asleep. Harmony asked me what I was doing next year, and I mentioned that I might like to run for VP Clark on the inter-residence council. She said that would be awesome, and 100% encouraged me to do it. So I am. I might not have without that push.
We talked, sang, cheered, and played "Never-can-tells" for the entire 6 hour ride back. When I found myself back in my rez room, I was lonely. But I got over it with the realization that I would see most of these people again.
Today, I find myself deliriously giggly and happy. I was more outgoing in class, more fun to be around, and in general a happier person. I wanted to avoid studying to see if I could find a friend in the dining hall. A friend?! In the dining hall?! I ended up not doing that, but the thought that I wanted to procrastinate for that rather than because I wanted to sit here and do nothing is an achievement.
Tonight, I went for an info meeting about running for the VP Clark position. I got 18 out of the 50 required signatures just at that meeting, and even got Carolann (the girl I talked to for a long time Saturday night) to be my scrutineer (oversee the counting of the votes). Tomorrow, I'll go out there and be amazing friendly and get the rest of those signatures that I need. So far, I think I'm the only one running for the position. It certainly doesn't guarantee anything, because I still have to be voted in regardless, but it's a good start. I'm *soooooooo* incredibly pumped. I'm not used to feeling this great, but I'm feeling it. :D When I got Harmony to sign my sheet and she saw that I was indeed running for VP Clark like I mentioned in the van, she gave me the biggest hug ever and wrote her phone extension on my hand if I ever needed anything. She's great. :D
So, what colour is my ORHA? I'm not entirely sure, but it's certainly brighter than it was a few days ago.
<3333333 to the max! Thanks for always being there. :)
Then a revelation hits you Saturday night and, suddenly, everything is different. :)
Friday
I started having second thoughts about going to the conference on Friday. I was throwing myself into an intensely social situation, something I had resisted doing so far this year. I was forcing myself to get out there and make connections. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but on Friday I wasn't sure. But I packed my suitcase like a good little girl and was on time when the vans were supposed to leave. Unfortunately, we had a little car trouble, but we were finally on our way at a quarter to five. We packed into the vans, junk and all, and were ready to go. I wasn't feeling the spirit yet. I was still nervous. I was still thinking, "can I ask Sandra to turn the van around and take me back?" However, my fellow vanees were fantastic and made me laugh the hardest I had in a long time. :-D Singing along to every song under the sun, Kareem yelling at the truckers with his megaphone...so many memories. As it well should be, as it's nearly a six-hour drive from Windsor to Barrie.
Upon arriving in Barrie (we were late), we went directly to the open ceremonies. Windsor's role call, based on "YMCA" but written as "ORHA", was seriously amazing and made me feel glad to be there for Windsor. That was the first time I've really felt school spirit since I got here. I really felt connected, proud of my school.
Friday night- I was already too tired to socialize. *g* But I did make some connection with the Windsor kids before I fell asleep around 2. No one else went to bed until 4ish. The Georgian rez kids, upset that we were taking over their lounges, pulled the fire alarm at 4:30. But did we despair? NO. All 170 delegates tromped outside with the rest of the residence students, huddled in circles with our sleeping bags (and Kareem with his megaphone) and began to cheer. We cheered until our throats were raw. We cheered with the snow and the fire truck sirens. We had spirit battles back and forth between schools, we did action cheers together, we had a fantastic time even though we were stuck outside in the cold. It was the best fire drill I ever had, that's for sure. :-D
Saturday
Up early for breakfast. But it wasn't that bad. We'd all been through the same thing, none of us had slept. Windsor delegates made sure we split up and tried to meet people during breakfast. I was still in my "I'm horrible with dealing with people mindset." My table ended up full of McMaster students, and I didn't speak to a single one, other than to say the seat wasn't taken. I was still telling myself "That's just not me. I'm just quiet."
Afterwards, we had an *amazing* keynote presentation from Sunjay Nath. It was incredibly inspiring, and yet it was about things we've all heard before. Have a positive attitude, etc. He arranged it in a different way, full of excitement and personal anecdotes. He was simply a fantastic speaker, and I'm incredibly happy that I got a chance to hear him speak.
Afterwards, I attended a program on Feng Shui in your rez room. Nothing I can do to help mine, considering the sucky space. Ah well. C'est la vie. :) After that, we were divided into "colour groups" to do an activity. The groups were mixed schools- met someone who used to cottage in my hometown who goes to Guelph. :) We went on a scavenger hunt around the college, taking pictures and stuff along the way. It was a great time. :-D I was beginning to feel more open, but was definitely still reserved. Glad I came by this point, I guess, but not wild-craziness.
Hmm. Just for posterity's sake, the rest of the day consisted of- lunch, a presentation on Leadership for Social Change (inspiring. Really. Really helped illustrate the every little bit counts concept, and inspire that you can take baby steps to reach a bigger goal, another colour group meeting in which I learned how to play the nose whistle (seriously.), a program on communication in which I played with Play-Doh, going back to rez with the rest of the Windsor delegates to get dressed up for dinner, and dinner with the Windsor crew.
After dinner, we sat down as a delegation and just talked about the conference so far and things like that. I actually was curled up in a ball asleep on a couch for a lot of that discussion, but when I woke up at one point Harmony waved me over and pulled up a chair for me. As I was sitting down, one girl told her story of why she's so enthusiastic about coming to university and living in rez. She's one of the most amazing and enthusiastic people I know, yet many people in her life told her she wouldn't ever make it to university. She was born with a cleft palette, which, even after surgeries, caused speech problems and hearing loss. Plus, she's nearly blind. But she's here. And she's doing amazing. I couldn't help by think to myself "Ness, you've had all the advantages in the world. And yet what are you doing with yourself? NOTHING. No connections. No friendships. Barely any spirit. What *are* you?!" It made me think, at least.
We had a coffeehouse afterwards. I saw people hugging and laughing and talking. I suddenly started to cry and had to sit in the washrooms for a while. I was just feeling sorry for myself, but it turned into a revelation for me. I've done NOTHING. I have no connections. Nothing to show for so many months of school, for so many months of residence life. It just all came pouring down on me at once. But here....*here* were the people I'd been looking for all year. Not just from the other schools, but from Windsor! The people who have intelligent discussions and ideas and thoughts and aren't stupid and immature! I've just been in the wrong building the entire time! I finally stop crying when I realize that I have a chance. I can salvage this year. I can spend the next six weeks making as many connections as I can, starting with this conference, and make something of this year.
So I did.
I went back out there and sat at a table full of Windsor students. I walked back to residence soon after with another girl from dred and talking about the conference in general and the programs being offered. I spent much of the night travelling from lounge to lounge where the different schools were staying. I played cards, watched movies, did cheers, and stole their chips. I went back to Windsor's lounge and had a loooong discussion with another girl about res, the conference, etc. We have been talking lots since and my MSN convo with her is currently flashing. *g* I completely opened up that night. It was an incredible feeling...I went to sleep happy and excited about the next day, even the rest of the year. That's a feeling I haven't had in a long time.
The fire alarm was again pulled at 4:30am. The immature kids at Georgian set off cherry bombs and firecrackers in the stairwells while we were trying to evacuate and locked the delegates in the 6th floor lounge in the room with a bike lock. Another delegate who happened to peek in an open door on the stairwell is the one who got them out. It was scary stuff. Yet, when we all got out there, we still cheered. We still made noise and made the best of it, no matter how tired and upset at the alarm we were.We huddled together to keep warm. It was a fantastic bonding experience.
Sunday
The last day...but I wasn't really all that upset about leaving conference. I had learned something important about myself. I had made connections to take back to my own school.
Morning consisted of- packing, breakfast, a program in which I wandered around a maze for a long time, pizza lunch, mingling, closing cermonies.
The trip home was great. :D The people in my car were hilarious, even when half of them were asleep. Harmony asked me what I was doing next year, and I mentioned that I might like to run for VP Clark on the inter-residence council. She said that would be awesome, and 100% encouraged me to do it. So I am. I might not have without that push.
We talked, sang, cheered, and played "Never-can-tells" for the entire 6 hour ride back. When I found myself back in my rez room, I was lonely. But I got over it with the realization that I would see most of these people again.
Today, I find myself deliriously giggly and happy. I was more outgoing in class, more fun to be around, and in general a happier person. I wanted to avoid studying to see if I could find a friend in the dining hall. A friend?! In the dining hall?! I ended up not doing that, but the thought that I wanted to procrastinate for that rather than because I wanted to sit here and do nothing is an achievement.
Tonight, I went for an info meeting about running for the VP Clark position. I got 18 out of the 50 required signatures just at that meeting, and even got Carolann (the girl I talked to for a long time Saturday night) to be my scrutineer (oversee the counting of the votes). Tomorrow, I'll go out there and be amazing friendly and get the rest of those signatures that I need. So far, I think I'm the only one running for the position. It certainly doesn't guarantee anything, because I still have to be voted in regardless, but it's a good start. I'm *soooooooo* incredibly pumped. I'm not used to feeling this great, but I'm feeling it. :D When I got Harmony to sign my sheet and she saw that I was indeed running for VP Clark like I mentioned in the van, she gave me the biggest hug ever and wrote her phone extension on my hand if I ever needed anything. She's great. :D
So, what colour is my ORHA? I'm not entirely sure, but it's certainly brighter than it was a few days ago.
<3333333 to the max! Thanks for always being there. :)