BLOGS
As the adage goes ”Wine tastes better and intoxicating with age”. This cliché shares significant analogy with the orientation programme held for the freshman at the University of Carnegie Mellon from 22nd -26th of august which got better and interesting as days passed .The orientation programme began on an exciting note with our HOC’s and students cheering “Tartans Ahoyyyyy” which set the tone ringing for the rest of the event. The students assembled at the tartan port from where we branched into our respective ships under our concerned OC’S AND OL’S. The ambience at the tartan port was most befitting and went hand in hand with the theme “pirates”.
I belonged to the ship “Rangers” and the OL and OC’s in charge were Fawaz Farid, Talal-al- Ahmed and Layal-al-Alami who happened to be very amiable and enterprising.. The orientation team performed skits on qualities like leadership, professionalism, responsibility which sent a clear cut message about the adherence of the university on areas that contribute to overall personality and skills development. The event also entailed a host of creative activities which fostered a sense of commitment and team spirit. Some of these activities included designing a flag for respective ships, building a balloon castle around our team member and a skit with the concluding phrase ”And that is how the pirates saved the mermaids”. Our frequent cheers,” ROW ROW RANGERS” lifted our team spirits as well as preparing us to row against the future challenges..
Another highlight of the event was the community service programme which provided us with an opportunity to mingle with the workers, distribute food supplements and exchange pleasantries. This initiative also emphasised the importance of community service as a moral responsibility of the students and helped in sharing the concerns of the workers.
The orientation programme also included presentations on health and wellness, time management, information technology which are going to be an integral part of our day-day affairs while at the university. The presentations were both informative and interesting. Prizes for correct answers gave impetus to the question and answer sessions getting the students to be more vibrant and interactive.
The event was a grand success and celebrations were strengthened and nourished with a surprise visit for iftar to the 4-seasons hotel. The orientation team, with their months of planning and work, have epitomised the art of team work and commitment to the freshman class. The event paved to be the ideal platform through which we could associate ourselves better and share a unique bond with the university.
To conclude “KUDOS TO THE ORIENTATION TEAM for the warm welcome.........................................we wish to be part of your team to help you welcome the next batch”.
Aniish Sridhar
