Take the A train
Turns out that New York is really good for freshmen orientation!? Hard to believe that we could accomplish the excitement and quality of Macaulay College orientation anywhere else in the world.
I already gushed about Outward Bound in Central Park and the beauty of seeing 440 freshmen fan out across the city to work in soup kitchens, weed parks, and work with kids.? At the Poetry Slam contest that ended Monday’s activities, I was struck by how many of the poems were about community service.? Seems like it wasn’t that hard to explain why honors education is not only about personal academic performance.? Good!
Second day was devoted to technology workshops.? OK, those laptops would be beautiful in every city of the world.? But where else would we have the talented Instructional Technology Fellows and the inimitable Joe Ugoretz to explain the magic of 21st century learning and scholarship?
Now, day three could ONLY happen in New York. Yeah, yeah, I know about London theatre, but you wouldn’t have walked down Broadway to get there! And besides, we were about to see West Side Story, which took place in New York.? In fact, as a kid in East Harlem, I remember seeing the film being made near my grandma’s apartment on 110th and Third Avenue.
So for those Macaulay students who are native New Yorkers, and for those who are more like the one student I met who had been here for TWO WHOLE WEEKS — you’re all new New Yorkers now.
Welcome! And a warm welcome back to Class of 2010, 2011, and 2012!