Orientation: Vibrators need not apply
Don't worry, my subject line will be explained shortly.
Orientation was this morning from 9-1. Boy, was I excited to have to go out into the coldest weather in a week. Still, it was, oh, a couple dozen degrees warmer than this time last week--though still in the low single digits--so at least that was something. At the sign-in table we all got bags that included a notebook, some writing utensils, and a packet of paper. I got kind of worried when I looked at the packet; it was basically College for Dummies. Like, this is how you read a syllabus. This is how to use your planner. This is how to read a textbook. Um, I know I haven't done this in a while, but really. Luckily the presentation had nothing to do with the packet and basically introduced parts of the college to us, which is what I wanted to see and hear.
The interesting part came from this English professor who, shock, is also into theater. He asked for ten volunteers--one of the girls from my table went up there--and pulled out nine placards, each with the face of a famous person on the front and a quote from that person on the back. He did this whole thing on why each quote was important and how it related to school. Clever and interesting. The tenth person on stage, the one not holding a placard, got to help with props. This guy had some issues at first but got the hang of it at the end. The prof would illustrate each person with, say, a powdered wig for Ben Franklin, or a bright pink feather boa for Ella Fitzgerald, or little devil horns for Dante. But the most interesting part came at the beginning when he mentioned that he wasn't technologically inclined and therefore didn't like cell phones, so always make sure your phone is off, or at least on vibrate mode. Except he didn't call it vibrate mode, he called it *vibrator* mode. Multiple times. And then tossed in the word "kinky." Uh, what kind of school are we going to now? I'm a private school girl. I'm not that familiar with the kinky ways of public school here.
After the initial presentation, we broke into little groups. I'm used to stuff like that and our group, blue, ended up being really good, really talkative. One girl especially kept talking about her experience in the military, for instance. They all seemed pretty nice, and we had a diverse group of interests, from education (me and another girl) to auto mechanics (apparently we're the top school in the nation for it; who knew?) to mortician (because she didn't want to work with the living) to molecular biology (which elicited oohs from everyone). At the end the leaders gave out prizes for stuff like who came from the farthest/closest, who was oldest/youngest (I didn't win, as the lady in front of me was 38). One girl asked if anyone had kids, and a couple people raised their hands, including one who had already mentioned she'd be working full time and going to class. The original girl asked because she didn't initially want to go to school, and people were telling her to go now while she's young and doesn't have kids, and she wanted to see that there were people who were determined to better their lives despite having obstacles. It was pretty interesting.
Following that was lunch--croissant sandwiches, cookies and brownies, and Cool Ranch Doritos. I ended up sitting with most of the same people from the presentation, as the girl I sat next to waved me over. She ended up joining me on the tour of campus after lunch, which was good. She was all concerned because she only had 15 minutes to make it across campus between classes. Heh, that's nothing, considering there's no streets you have to cross or anything here. Seriously, it's about five minutes to walk across campus, ten if you're slow. I was impressed to see how many buildings were interconnected. Probably half of the tour was spent walking around inside, and I got to see all the buildings where I'll have classes, so that was great. Also, it turned out that the bookstore was open, so I was able to pick up the two required items I still needed. I was right, one was a computer program. Oh, and I got a free T-shirt. The orientation leaders were tossing them out to the new students, and everyone at my table got something. Nobody went for this shirt; it's day-glo green. Kirby is seriously freaked by it and made these frantic chirping noises when I pulled it out of the bag.
Orientation was this morning from 9-1. Boy, was I excited to have to go out into the coldest weather in a week. Still, it was, oh, a couple dozen degrees warmer than this time last week--though still in the low single digits--so at least that was something. At the sign-in table we all got bags that included a notebook, some writing utensils, and a packet of paper. I got kind of worried when I looked at the packet; it was basically College for Dummies. Like, this is how you read a syllabus. This is how to use your planner. This is how to read a textbook. Um, I know I haven't done this in a while, but really. Luckily the presentation had nothing to do with the packet and basically introduced parts of the college to us, which is what I wanted to see and hear.
The interesting part came from this English professor who, shock, is also into theater. He asked for ten volunteers--one of the girls from my table went up there--and pulled out nine placards, each with the face of a famous person on the front and a quote from that person on the back. He did this whole thing on why each quote was important and how it related to school. Clever and interesting. The tenth person on stage, the one not holding a placard, got to help with props. This guy had some issues at first but got the hang of it at the end. The prof would illustrate each person with, say, a powdered wig for Ben Franklin, or a bright pink feather boa for Ella Fitzgerald, or little devil horns for Dante. But the most interesting part came at the beginning when he mentioned that he wasn't technologically inclined and therefore didn't like cell phones, so always make sure your phone is off, or at least on vibrate mode. Except he didn't call it vibrate mode, he called it *vibrator* mode. Multiple times. And then tossed in the word "kinky." Uh, what kind of school are we going to now? I'm a private school girl. I'm not that familiar with the kinky ways of public school here.
After the initial presentation, we broke into little groups. I'm used to stuff like that and our group, blue, ended up being really good, really talkative. One girl especially kept talking about her experience in the military, for instance. They all seemed pretty nice, and we had a diverse group of interests, from education (me and another girl) to auto mechanics (apparently we're the top school in the nation for it; who knew?) to mortician (because she didn't want to work with the living) to molecular biology (which elicited oohs from everyone). At the end the leaders gave out prizes for stuff like who came from the farthest/closest, who was oldest/youngest (I didn't win, as the lady in front of me was 38). One girl asked if anyone had kids, and a couple people raised their hands, including one who had already mentioned she'd be working full time and going to class. The original girl asked because she didn't initially want to go to school, and people were telling her to go now while she's young and doesn't have kids, and she wanted to see that there were people who were determined to better their lives despite having obstacles. It was pretty interesting.
Following that was lunch--croissant sandwiches, cookies and brownies, and Cool Ranch Doritos. I ended up sitting with most of the same people from the presentation, as the girl I sat next to waved me over. She ended up joining me on the tour of campus after lunch, which was good. She was all concerned because she only had 15 minutes to make it across campus between classes. Heh, that's nothing, considering there's no streets you have to cross or anything here. Seriously, it's about five minutes to walk across campus, ten if you're slow. I was impressed to see how many buildings were interconnected. Probably half of the tour was spent walking around inside, and I got to see all the buildings where I'll have classes, so that was great. Also, it turned out that the bookstore was open, so I was able to pick up the two required items I still needed. I was right, one was a computer program. Oh, and I got a free T-shirt. The orientation leaders were tossing them out to the new students, and everyone at my table got something. Nobody went for this shirt; it's day-glo green. Kirby is seriously freaked by it and made these frantic chirping noises when I pulled it out of the bag.