I was nervous to start classes. After hearing so many versions of what can go wrong and what can go right, I had no idea what to expect. I stepped tentatively into the classroom which spelled of wood and carpet, and chose a place next to a student from my cohort. (See this LEAD stuff does work!) We anxiously confirmed that none of us had done any pre-work and were relieved that we would not be punished alone. The Professor was awesome. He introduced himself and explained how he expected the course to work, but he had attitude. He went through the syllabus and calmly stated that if we’d like to change the order of topics covered, we should feel free to register for another class, as there are plenty of sections this term.
He quickly got to the point; introducing supply and demand with such vigor that you started thinking this stuff is pretty cool. I think this is the idea and Chicago professors do it to perfection. It’s pretty easy to sell something you’ve studied forever and love with a passion. He did some mild cold calling that only foreshadowed our next few weeks. One student replied that he didn’t know, and The Professor told him that he was on probation until next week. When the same students later made an insightful comment, he said that he was now off of probation. See professors have a sense of humor!
I followed the three hour class with a meeting about Student Ambassadors. These are students who meet the recruiters before their presentations and make sure the overhead projector is working and that everything is set up as planned. It’s a good opportunity for us to make some contacts, and it helps alleviate the workload on the Career Services office. They gave us some helpful info concerning the various venues where presentations would take place and then went into a half hour orientation on the brand new projection systems in the Hyde Park Center. We found out afterward that nearly none of the presentations would take place in this building, so I didn’t really see the point.
Next up: REFUND DAY! It’s been crazy living with no income, but I finally was saved when we were able to pick up our refund checks from what was left on our loan balance after tuition decimated it. I stood in line with students from the law school and the undergraduate college all intent on eating this evening! It as pretty painless, as I’d heeded Priscilla Parker and registered for the correct amount of classes. Though the process took a little longer than I thought, and I couldn’t join the line at the bank.
Instead I headed over to LEAD headquarters for Group Process. I knew ahead of time that this would be painful. As soon as I heard a video camera would be involved, I was up in arms. The theory here is that you’ll observe yourself in a group, through the magic of video and gain some clarity on others’ impression of you. They gave us a project that we had a certain amount of time to finish and then present on. We then watched the video of ourselves and made observations, and then got to relive the horror yet another time, when we were debriefed by the gurus (AKA: LEAD Facilitators). It was probably the most difficult LEAD project I’ve had.
I finished off the day with the Women’s Welcome Back Mixer for female students. It was pretty tame, as expected. They had little appetizer things and fruit, and we basically stood around and talked about school, etc. I didn’t really meet anyone I didn’t already know, but I think it was more a show of support as there were several administrative staff in attendance.
In the effort of stepping out of my comfort zone, I did attend TNDC later. It was more of a reunion for the second years and we got to meet more of them. It was held at a sports bar so I didn’t stay long.