What an amazing staff! I think we knew from the beginning that this summer would be amazing, but until you are knee deep in it all, you can’t really be sure. Everyone has so much energy and they truly make training a lot of fun. I can’t wait for everyone to meet them! 

Today was the 3rd day of training and we had quite a few guest presenters. This being my 3rd summer as a member of the orientation program, you would think that everything would just be a repeat. Well, somethings are but no matter how many times you hear something, each time it gets even more important. I say this because the director of residential life spoke with the staff today. One of the topics he brought up was the ever-so-popular “Facebook”. We all know that if we have an account and don’t have security settings, that everyone will be able to view our pages, but what I don’t think people are totally grasping is the fact that others are making impressions based soley on these pages before they even meet a person. I’m sure that most of KSC’s incoming first year students have already checked out those who will be at orientation and will see some of these students in a few weeks and find themselves stuck with a first impression that is not personal, rather via the internet.  Please, I really urge those first-year students reading this, to make sure that your accounts are what you really want others to know about you. Don’t try to make yourself something you aren’t. Be confident in who you are, because the transition from High School to College is a big one and why worry about keeping up with a superficial “you” when you could focus on other aspects of college, like getting involved and meeting new people.

Soooo as some of you probably are already aware of, Keene State has what we call “Keene Reads”. It’s the organization that picks the summer reading book and all the components that go with it. Each first year student is required to read it and is strongly encouraged to read it prior to move in day. This years book is “Omnivore’s Dilemma”. I just got my copy of the book and I began reading it, but today we had a few people talking about it. From what I read I really like, but from what I have heard, I CAN’T WAIT to finish it! It’s incredible and filled with so much information that would totally shock you. It is about our nations food industry and basically is always asking the question, “where is the food you are eating coming from”? It is so crazy to think that what we do everyday is really affecting what will happen in the future and also that the things we think we are doing right, might not be enough. For example, I try to eat organic whenever it is possible. What I did not realize at all is that even though I am buying an organic tomatoe from the supermarket, where they are being shipped from is so far away that I am actually now supporting the need to ship a tomatoe from California to NH and wasting all that energy needed for transportation of the product, when I could have just had a small tomatoe plant in my room that would have been just as good if not better (and cheaper!)  I am completely ranting, but what I am getting at is that this book is really a HUGE eye-opener and I learned more than I ever thought I would as a third year o-staffer, just from the summer reading book.

Well I am off to bed so I can get up for another long, but wonderful day of training!

KTV

ps: thanks for the comments! I hope more people jump in as well!

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