Get Acquainted Day. I have no clue what this is but I was asked to help with it. According to the Mount’s website, it is described as: “During one of the Mount's Get Acquainted Days (GAD) students get to explore the academic programs, learn about financial aid opportunities, and catch a glimpse of college life. Representatives from all academic majors and supports are also on hand to answer your questions. For more information about GAD, call 1-800-654-9314, ext. 4531 from outside the Cincinnati area, or 513-244-4531 within Cincinnati.”
In light of this, I was asked to be on the Student Panel section of the day. I remember this section of this type of event because it was, I think, my freshman orientation in which they had this kind of thing. So I had a small idea what it was going to be. I’d experienced the prospective student side but I had not been on the side of the panel and I don’t think I was ready for it… I walk into the room, sit down, and look up. Holy *explicative*. Yeah. That’s what I said- in my head at least. I hadn’t actually connected the fact that I was talking to a group of prospective students and the fact that I had to speak publicly. I don’t like public speaking- AT ALL! I was nervous. So I sat there staring at about 30 people- students and parents- waiting for them to ask questions. I was the only freshman on the panel and I thought they would ask me a lot of questions but not really.
Some of the questions were: what is one of the best kept secrets at the Mount? I said that the teachers were actually extremely personable and really were willing to get to know you and remember who you are. But I walked out to my car, I realized something else you don’t find out until like the weekend school starts: parking. The parking sticker at school is free- or at least it’s already in your tuition fees so you don’t pay anything extra. And also, freshmen are allowed to have cars. I know UC charges at least $250 a parking sticker PER quarter totaling at least $750 a year to park on their campus- and that’s still a 15 minute walk to the buildings. But I also know UD doesn’t allow freshmen to have cars their first years unless they’re commuters so it really is an advantage for Mount students to have free parking and have cars their first year.
Another question was what clubs we participate in and what we did our first semester to join in at the school. I said that since my first semester was only four months ago (*insert laughter*) that I hadn’t done much but I did hang out in the lobbies and the dorms and that really helps you make friends. I also did theater so I really was involved in the musical for about 6-8 weeks and that was involvement to the extreme.
One of the other things I didn’t get to mention for that question, also, was blogging- at least for me. I mean, it’s not a club or anything, but it’s something I’m involved in (obviously if you’re reading this) and it was a great opportunity to mention to those prospective students and their parents about some insight they could gain from reading our blogs. The blogs are actually a great way to learn about the Mount through the eyes of a student from week to week. If I had known about the blogs earlier before I came here I could have been more prepared for college life and the ways of the Mount (I was just watching Star Wars IV so I’m a bit like Obi One Kinobi: “the ways of the force” except its “the Mount” not “the force”… Ya… another tangent sorry).
But it was an interesting hour of my life but if you have more questions about anything here at the Mount, don’t hesitate to leave a comment on mine or anyone’s blogs and we’ll be more than happy to answer your questions. But I had fun and now it’s time to think about the week ahead… still have a lot of homework to do… Thank God for the weekends… J