I just got back from my first day of orientation. It went very well - yay! I met a lot of nice people, and all the professors seem just ridiculously cool. When they were introducing themselves to everybody, I felt like I should wave a lighter around from the desk.
I got there a little early, which was good because it meant less standing in line waiting to get my ID picture taken and more time to sit at a table with other students and enjoy the bagels and Nantucket Nectars they gave us. Everyone at the table I ended up at happened to be about my age, or even a couple years older, which was very reassuring for all of us, and then throughout the day I could reassure other older students that no, not everybody in our class just graduated in May - there are a whole bunch of us who have been out of college for a while.
Eventually, everybody went into the big lecture hall, and some of the deans and the new president of Northeastern talked to us, and then they brought all the professors in and they introduced themselves. After that, we broke up into the little groups of 12 that we’ll be going to all our classes with and working on a public service project with throughout the year. The project my group got assigned is going to deal with predatory lending practices that take advantage of the elderly, and by the end of the year we’re going to have put together an information packet for seniors so that they know their legal rights.
Our student advisor gave us a tour of the school, and then everyone went back to the lecture hall and the information technology people talked to us about computer stuff and security and using the library. Then there was a panel called “Thriving in Law School” (or something like that), with the dean, the professor who coordinates the academic success program, a counsellor from health services, two third-year students and a second-year student.
That was the last scheduled event of the day, and afterwards I went over to the bookstore and the copy place with a few of the girls from my group to buy our books and course packets. It was almost more than I could carry! Then I caught the T back home, and now I’m sitting in Boloco, the burrito place down the street, finishing up a smoothie (yum!) and using their wi-fi.
