8 highs of Orientation

If it ain't broke...in the final Orientation post of the summer, out of all the summers I'll ever have, I must conclude with another "8 highs" post. Here are the best moments from my last Orientation ever.

- It actually felt like I had done this before. Not that the 4:59am wakeup was boring, not that welcoming families was unexciting, but it actually felt as though I had gone through this. Which was different from last year. That feeling of going through this gave me some sort of preparation for all of this before any of it actually started.

- That being said, there wasn't any magic lost throughout Orientation. For both Playfair sessions, I was right up at the front, getting the front line of the PMs all fired up with chants and cheers as the pumper-uppers sent the students through the tunnel. It's something that I want so badly to happen at athletic events this year, but to have it in a moment like Playfair really is special.

- And speaking of Playfair, the second session closed with my favorite activity - essentially, giant Where The Wind Blows. I talked about this last year, and the same thing pretty much happened. The PMs had a psyche-circle as the first-years came closer, and by the time they reached us, we were all jumping up and down, just screaming for its own sake. It was an awesome moment, and a great way to close out Playfair.

- Alright, enough about me. This team...holy crap, I've never had this much fun with a Peer Mentor Team. Seriously, I haven't lost it from laughing so hard so often in my life. I talked about this in my previous post, but there was something special about this team that made it so easy for everything to come together. I can't think of specific examples, but just being on this team was hilarious enough.

- For the third time, I had a fantastic partner. It was my first time with a first-year, rising sophomore, but it certainly didn't feel like it. Candace kicked so much ass throughout the week, especially at times when I felt that I wasn't doing so on my end. That's something that kept our groups going and left something in the tank for when we needed it, and something that will make her an awesome PM for the next three years.

- I realized the subconscious reward of being a Peer Mentor, and this came during Cryfest Celebration. Of the 620 incoming students, there is likely a handful (at the very least) of stories about students not wanting to come to Stonehill, or not being excited, or whatever, but Orientation changed that for them. Well, that's true even on the PM Team -- after hearing stories of people's faith in Stonehill being restored by these ten days, it was something that I realized was the inherent beauty of what we do -- that it's not only for the incoming students, but this kind of makes us love Stonehill all the more as well.

- This entire thing was just straight up fun. And another thing that I only seemed to be able to realize in my third year is that mentees see all of this fun we have and it becomes infectious. They see the no bones, the floor being lava, the random dancing, the knives being sent around, Playfair...all of this making fools of ourselves ends up spreading to the first-years. They see the fun we have and it's awesome to know that in a small percentage of those people, they'll want to join in on the fun.

- Lastly, Piano Man. I resist the urge to play it right now as I remember what it felt like being on the inside circle of Peer Mentors, the one reseved for the seniors. I made it through three lines, and when the time came to hit higher and bolder notes, I totally lost it. But it was an absolutely good cry. It was the past three years of doing this coming out all at once, seeing everyone else go through the same thing, and seeing the mixture of confusion and "shit, this will be me one day" on the first- and second-year PMs' faces. I kinda get the feeling that I'll always think of Piano Man this way now, where I can just tilt my head back, belt out the words to the song, and just remember how incredible doing this has been.