We are one week into our 2 ½-week Orientation, and it already seems as though Labor Day was months ago! So much has happened in a mere week! On the morning of the first day, I put on a new dress and packed up a lunchbox and my new bag with all my school books. It was like a time warp to first grade! Except the part where I drove myself to school.
When we first got to the Anderson campus, the whole class piled into Korn Convocation Hall for a welcome from the administration. There, we learned there are actually 379 of us! That was a lot bigger than I expected. But only 28% of us are female, which is a lot fewer than I thought. We also learned a few of the statistics that show just how impressive the 379 of us are. Grades, GMATs, jobs, travel, awards…. We’ve got a lot going for us.
Soon it was time to break into our sections, the group of 76 people you have most of your classes with for the Fall Quarter. Mine is a diverse group ranging in age from 23-34, hailing from all over the world, and from the looks of it, very good at Powerpoint. We also learned who the members of our “Learning Team” are, or the group of five people from within the section that you do all your group projects with. In this small group alone, I am joined by a student from Serbia and one from Pakistan!
We are actually taking a class during this time, Leadership Foundation I, with a professor teaching us every other day. It was hard to be immediately thrown into hard work (and homework!) after not being in school for so long. Here is the final product of one of the hardest tasks he made us do.
Yes, that is a Lego Man.
I’m kidding, it was actually really challenging and an example of one of the many tasks we did to engender and practice effective teamwork. For those of us used to doing things our own way in our previous professions, the new way of thinking is going to take some getting used to! I guess that’s why we have grades, right?
We also had Undergraduate T-shirt day, which proved useful as many people who had been told by mutual friends that they had to be sure to meet me were finally able to pick me out in my very subtle undergrad garb.
This also helped me pick out my fellow Dartmouth-ites. John Hertzer (above) and I agreed that the weather in Los Angeles had it over Hanover, New Hampshire’s at least 8 months of the year!
Of course not everyone took such a standard approach to Undergrad T-shirt day.
Prof. Goldstein seems oddly unfazed by Kenny Liao’s outfit. I sure hope Kenny went to Texas!
Above all, it’s been amazing to meet so many great new people that I am privileged to spend the next two years with. It is very refreshing that everyone is so open and friendly and eager to jump right in. How many business lunches where no one knew each other at the outset look like this by the end??
On tap: another week of Orientation, including the famed “Odyssey” which is a day on the high ropes course. Sure sounds a lot more fun than the Trust Fall!
-Charlotte Baxter
