Orientation & National Book Festival

Much like Oz, I had a good witch and a bad witch of orientations. The bad witch was, naturally, last Monday. I spent a fair amount of time picking out an appropriate outfit to wear, preparing myself to meet my peers, and ended up sitting in a huge ballroom and talking to no one. Now, this isn't to say that I had much a choice in the matter. The entire charade of the event was basically telling us what the Graduate School was and why it matters that we choose it. Um, hello. Like, I already did. I'm sitting in this seat listening to you, aren't I? I listened to several presenters, who while not boring, weren't exceptionally interesting based on what I wanted to actually hear. The high point of the day, other than lunch, was the panel of influential PhDs, authors, and the State Treasurer. Listening to their stories got my juice flowing, but unfortunately, that was afforded minimal time in the 4 hour session.
Tuesday, however, was a good witch day. The orientation for my program, the iSchool was being held and I feared that it might be the same as the day before. And boy was I glad to be proven wrong! The morning started off with a bang with the headed of our Student Service offices talking to us and being introduced to key people. Then we got to play a game! And who doesn't love games??

Most ice breakers are awkward and even sometimes boring, but this one definitely was not! Whoever decided that this was the ice breaker deserves an award. We got to participate in, are you read for this? A scavenger hunt!! On our chairs when we arrived was a list of people to find. It was a great way to get out in the group, introduce ourselves, and discover some new things. We also helped each other and made fun contacts. I, for one, greatly enjoyed it (and not just because I won). I was able to introduce myself to my Program Director and Coordinator plus several professors and my advisor.Then we listened to thoughtful and helpful presentation on everything from scholarships to the Counseling Center. Then each of the professors stood up and introduced themselves and gave a fun fact. My favorites were the fencing master and the one who couldn't wait for Pretty Little Liars.

We broke for lunch, mine was a roast beef sandwich, and after got to meet people in our concentrations. I made two new friends and even got to see one of them at an event this past weekend: The Library of Congress National Book Festival. But before we get to that, I would also like to say that I was also introduced to my new coworker and fellow GA, Justin this past week. Although I didn't get the chance to meet him as early in the week as I expected, we still hit it off and he made some killer origami turtles for the office. Not literal killer turtles though, because that would just be awkward.
Now onto the REALLY good part!
Are you ready?
Brace yourself.

 

The 14th Annual National Book Festival happened on Saturday and while it wasn't what I expected, it was still pretty awesome. I won't bore you with all the details, if you want them, read my other blog. But let's suffice to say that I had a damn good time. There were books and people and Clifford the Big, Red dog. I got to see a wonderfully talented Irish chef and Sandra Day O'Connor, plus nerd out with some fellow history and book people. I went home tired but happy. And then got to walk around without pants because I had the house to myself for the weekend. Life is good.

And because I haven't done one for while:

What I'm reading: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Progress: about 2/3 of the way thru

Thoughts so far: Having a little trouble keeping all of the characters straight, I haven't lived and breathed this series in awhile but I am completely sucked in now and I'm told that it only gets more addicted the closer to the end that I go. Can't wait.