Orientation Week

       Orientation week.  Why does that sound so daunting and excruciatingly painful.  I conjure up images of introducing myself to dozens of barely post-adolescent teenie boppers  full of "oh my gosh" "jk" and any other annoying phrases that pop to mind from the movie Clueless.  I am not the most outgoing of people (think basically a cat woman, without the cat or the woman part) and was not excited about the formidable task of getting to know 52 other people in a week.  I was also sure they would make us do ridiculous trust building activities with people that I had no notion of trusting.

       Needless to say the vast majority of my presumptions proved unfounded.  I have just finished an entire week of orientation and am sad to see it go.  While there was a proliferation of very young people (the majority of people I met in the student ID line still carried their under 21 driver's license), I enjoyed getting to know every one of them.  If I wasn't so excited to begin actual classes and reading assignments (our first lecture is on the history of dentistry!...I know I'm a dork), I'd wish that we could do orientation all over again.

First Day Outfit

      The very first day we were asked to wear a full suit and tie as we would be taking several pictures including one forour student ID.  We started off meeting the Dean and several members of the faculty and staff as well as having a catered lunch to meet fellow classmates and the State Dental Association.  Throughout the week we had numerous breaks to mingle amongst ourselves.  We also had too many presentations to recall from student resources on campus to mental wellness facilities.  Tuesday was the day for the dreaded trust building exercises and we met bright and early at the ECU rope course facility.  Much to my surprise it was amazing.  We were divided into smaller groups and led through various courses and activities.  I found that I actually did like, and more amazingly trust, my classmates.  They were fun, smart, and responsible!  Tuesday afternoon we met back at the school and completed a session entitled True Colors which is basically a personality survey.  My results were inconclusive.  Apparently my highest aptitude is for OCD tendencies (seriously? compared to Kristin's true OCD nature, I'm like Evel Knievel with a hoarder disorder).  However, only separated by 1 point is my spontaneous, outgoing, charming personality (not it either).  Down 1 more is loving, caring, compassionate.  Finally, last by a point is thinking, critical, scholarly (I must be bad at these surveys).

First Picture Fresh and Clean

     Wednesday was awesome!  We did a pirate treasure hunt all over campus.  We were assigned groups of 5 and given about 50 obscure clues to a scavenger hunt.  Being in a group with no one who had ever attended East Carolina before and had all recently moved to town, we were at a distinct disadvantage, but did not give up.  I'm pretty sure we ran/power walked at least 5 miles all over town that morning, accosting every person we encountered looking for help.  I even ran up to a parked police officer at one point and started grilling him on where distant and obscure things were on campus.  (I can't imagine why he kept looking all around and over his shoulder like I was distracting him from something).

Somewhere halfway through the hunt sweaty and nasty

Anyway, by the end of the morning we were all dripping sweat, horribly smelly, and had burning and aching feet.  Oh and we didn't win... or get second.  They didn't announce the score beyond that (probably to keep our morale intact).

The Long Awaited Technology Bundle

      Thursday I finally got to meet my new iPad and MacBook which I had purchased back in May.  The school had been keeping them under the pretext of download programs and our textbooks onto them.  Anyway we were finally given them, and we spent the morning doing what... downloading programs and our textbooks onto them.  That and setting up campus internet, registering our warranties, and working out general bugs.  You know, the stuff they had held them for months doing.  Then we were told we wouldn't be able to take them home until Friday afternoon as there were more things that needed to be installed.  That afternoon we were divided into groups and went to various assisted living facilities around town to visit with the residents.  I met several lovely ladies and got to play bingo and sing with them.  I apparently had never played real bingo and was given a few withering stares when I asked why they called out the letters with the numbers.

      Friday was our final day of orientation and we spent it working on our computers as well as learning about the code of conduct and ethical standards on campus.  That afternoon several second year students came in and talked to us about what to expect and how they study.  I was a little taken back by their study habits.  One said that he never took notes and did not even own a pen, he merely read through lecture powerpoints a few times to study.  Another stated that for a test Wednesday he would begin studying Sunday taking time out to watch a race, then take Monday off and study hard Tuesday.  Are you serious?  Either these rascals are a lot smarter than I am or these tests aren't quite as hard as I was led to believe.  Either way I figure I'll probably wind up doing a little more studying that half a day and an evening each week.  However it works out I can't wait to get started!