Freshman Move-in
Hoop-la!
Classes start Monday, but today's the day the freshmen start moving in, taking part in an annual ceremony that involves a long line of overburdened cars and SUV's waiting to get to the end of the journey, at which point the parents will be startled and perturbed when all their children's belongings suddenly disappear, carried away to the dorm rooms.
I do NOT know how this is orchestrated, and I haven't asked, being worried that I might get roped into the activity. But it's quite impressive. Somehow the Helping Students waiting at the end of the line know where all the stuff goes, and as long as the professors and staff remember not to attempt to park in our regular parking lot -- as if we do we'll be a part of that long long line, and it's not amusing -- then all will go well, and when I get to work in a bit I'll be able to look out my window and see all those cars with the harassed parents, all those freshmen who are trying desperately to look cool -- very difficult, when you're stuck in an SUV with your mom, your dad, some younger siblings, and Way Too Much Stuff -- and all those cheerful Helping Students, who are in an extremely one-up position, on account of a) not being freshmen, b) being obviously involved in Acts of Charity, and c) knowing where everything is.
Later there are activities for the freshmen, and activities for the parents, and Mass and whatnot, and then, at about 3:00, some of the professors will put on impressive regalia and go process in a solemn ceremony which officially accepts the freshmen into the life of the campus -- the Matriculation ceremony.
I never miss this. I don't think the ceremony means that much to the freshmen, really, whose minds are elsewhere, but I figure that if I were a parent who had just dropped my beloved child off at a place where he or she was going to live, away from home, amongst people I didn't know, at enormous expense, I might be slightly comforted by seeing that the child was now in the hands of serious looking people who own fancy robes.
Whilst engaged in ceremonies such as this, I look just like this, except my hair's a bit longer and my expression is usually not quite so vacant.
So I do this every year, partly because in order to make my regalia cost-effective I have to wear it as often as possible, partly because I think I ought to, partly because the ceremony itself is an excellent opportunity for meditation, partly because the parents look so stricken by that time I like to help out a little bit.
And then, I enjoy freshmen no end. They've got very big jobs ahead of them this semester -- they've got to reinvent themselves to fit the new life away from home, they've got to learn how to manage their time, they've got to let go of a lot of things they think they've learned. Big, big changes. An honor to be involved in them.
Let the games begin.
Classes start Monday, but today's the day the freshmen start moving in, taking part in an annual ceremony that involves a long line of overburdened cars and SUV's waiting to get to the end of the journey, at which point the parents will be startled and perturbed when all their children's belongings suddenly disappear, carried away to the dorm rooms.
I do NOT know how this is orchestrated, and I haven't asked, being worried that I might get roped into the activity. But it's quite impressive. Somehow the Helping Students waiting at the end of the line know where all the stuff goes, and as long as the professors and staff remember not to attempt to park in our regular parking lot -- as if we do we'll be a part of that long long line, and it's not amusing -- then all will go well, and when I get to work in a bit I'll be able to look out my window and see all those cars with the harassed parents, all those freshmen who are trying desperately to look cool -- very difficult, when you're stuck in an SUV with your mom, your dad, some younger siblings, and Way Too Much Stuff -- and all those cheerful Helping Students, who are in an extremely one-up position, on account of a) not being freshmen, b) being obviously involved in Acts of Charity, and c) knowing where everything is.
Later there are activities for the freshmen, and activities for the parents, and Mass and whatnot, and then, at about 3:00, some of the professors will put on impressive regalia and go process in a solemn ceremony which officially accepts the freshmen into the life of the campus -- the Matriculation ceremony.
I never miss this. I don't think the ceremony means that much to the freshmen, really, whose minds are elsewhere, but I figure that if I were a parent who had just dropped my beloved child off at a place where he or she was going to live, away from home, amongst people I didn't know, at enormous expense, I might be slightly comforted by seeing that the child was now in the hands of serious looking people who own fancy robes.
Whilst engaged in ceremonies such as this, I look just like this, except my hair's a bit longer and my expression is usually not quite so vacant.
So I do this every year, partly because in order to make my regalia cost-effective I have to wear it as often as possible, partly because I think I ought to, partly because the ceremony itself is an excellent opportunity for meditation, partly because the parents look so stricken by that time I like to help out a little bit.
And then, I enjoy freshmen no end. They've got very big jobs ahead of them this semester -- they've got to reinvent themselves to fit the new life away from home, they've got to learn how to manage their time, they've got to let go of a lot of things they think they've learned. Big, big changes. An honor to be involved in them.
Let the games begin.
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