Orientation: Rules and Itinerary

Most of us met at Pinole Middle School at 6:00. Most of us. Unfortunately, several students were late, and orientation was delayed. Mr. Ramsey lectured us on the importance of being prompt. Don Gosney then laid out the schedule for the evening, talked a bit about rules, talked about loaner items, and had us break up into groups by cohort. In the groups, our chaperone Mr. Hillyer told us the itinerary and answered our questions. I enjoyed his positive attitude in comparison to the lectures on being late. I really like everybody who I will be traveling east with. After the groups, we listened to Mr. Ramsey and Don Gosney continue to tell us about the rules.

I am conflicted as to what I think about the numerous lectures on rules. On one hand,  the rules are extremely important. Being late can delay the whole group. On the other hand, some of the students were only very slightly late, and I do not believe that devoting such a large amount of time to the discussion of tardiness was worthwhile, as it only delayed the event more. Before some of the tardy students arrived, Mr. Ramsey lectured those of us who were on time about tardiness. While this can be preventative, it felt like they were expecting the worst of us. Overall, I believe that while it is important to make the point about being on time, such a large amount of time did not need to be devoted to the subject.

More than just the issue of tardiness, they repeated rules overmuch. Don had an anecdote about some students who went on an alcohol run to Canada (luckily these students were not affiliated with ILC). While the first time I heard this story, I found it amazing that people who break the rules like that, this was perhaps the fifth time I had heard that story. I did not find it as valuable an example the fifth time around. This over-repetition of rules did really cement the rules in my mind. Still, I had heard these same rules before, which may have caused me to pay less attention and miss an important piece of information. At the end of the day, I am still conflicted to how many time rules should be repeated. Rules can be extremely important, but they can also be concise.

Orientation was still a valuable event. It conveyed to us information (including, of course, the rules). I received a more concrete idea of what to expect. I am looking forward to visiting anumber of great universities such as Prince, Swarthmore, and Columbia. I am really looking forward to going to the University of Pennsylvania in just a few short weeks with my fantastic cohort and great chaperone.