Day One: Indoctrination Begun

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

Quote of the Day:
"Don't think of them as lines. Think of them as social opportunities."
- Gerald Laronde, Chair, Intermediate Senior Division


Don't let the title throw you off - it's mostly tongue-in-cheek.

In many ways, this "first day of school" was one of the most exciting I have ever had! As a returning Nipissing student, I was eager to see what the breakdown of the crowd would be: Would there be a lot of my returning peers? Would there be a lot of out-of-towners?

I even found myself being preemptively defensive of Nipissing.

Would you new students think it was too small? Too far away? Too deranged for its own good? Too perfect?!

This little school of mine, which has seen me through some of the best times in life, while simultaneously putting me through some of the worst, has squeezed its way into my heart in such a way that even the notion that someone would badmouth it made me pre-angry (more on pre-anger in another post)! Fortunately, this never came up. Even in the face of some fairly predictable technological delays, the day went off, it seemed, without a hitch.

However - Yes, we really only have the one building. No, there is no pool. Yes, everyone does know pretty much everyone else. No, you can't borrow a pen.

Okay, it was me that had to borrow the pen (thanks, Jessica, for lending it to me!).

...So I have decided to keep a blog. Now, I have as devoted to not having a blog as most other non-bloggers, BUT a few factors have come into consideration which have made me re-think my approach:

1) It will be nice (for me, personally) to have a running record of my thoughts and observations ... in Blog form!
2) The content of this particular Blog will form part of a partnership with the Campus Free Press*, as part of an ongoing "Insider's Look at the Faculty of Education" column in that paper.
3) Contests! Nipissing University is sponsoring a contest, and boy do I love contests! So, this blog is my contest-entry.
4) Sometimes people say REALLY funny things. Like, really funny. And sometimes, they can be insightful, or emotive, or provocative, etc... SO, I am also introducing my QUOTE OF THE DAY, which will be at the top of every post. My QOTD (Quotes Of The Day, in case you weren't following) will always be things that I have heard, or overheard, myself. However, I invite you to include your own.

*The Campus Free Press is the only completely student-run paper on the Nipissing and Canadore campus, and is the only paper which publishes on a frequently-recurring schedule for both schools. The Campus Free Press is also a member of the nationally-accredited Canadian University Press, a news media organization devoted to student and educational issues.

Rather than summing up the first week, day-by-day, I think I will do a week's end approach. However, my initial impressions are that this is going to be an absolutely tremendous year.