Getting to know one another

At the beginning or orientation, (program director) Karen Catone challenged us to speak to everyone in the program to determine at least one thing each of us had in common with everyone else. She consistently asked us over the weekend if we were working on our "homework." The Chipsters, myself included, responded to her with an awkward silence and blank stares. Before our last session this morning, Karen stood before the podium and asked for a volunteer to step up and enlighten the rest of the group with his or her newfound knowledge. She noted that from what she gathered, the Scholars of Spring 2006 had not been very diligent at this task. We Chipsters squirmed in our chairs for a few moments until Rick Coca stood up to respond to Karen's challenge. Rick hinted at the activities of the Chipsters the night before and offered the only information that everyone at that moment had agreed to let escape room 714 -- information I cannot reveal here because Karen told us the information couldn't leave the Freedom Forum dining room. I suspected that Karen was disappointed in us. The smallest class of Chipsters in years had no excuse to not get close enough to know one another. But the thing is we did, and we did it quite well. During our last night in Virginia, we revealed to each other some of our deepest, darkest secrets -- some revealing, some hilarious and some downright disturbing. In doing so we found that many of us had things in common. At the end, we circled and Vanessa Casavant said she believed we had been gathered together this weekend not only because we were chosen, but because it was our destiny to know one another and to spread our talents across the country. We had a good, boisterous time our last night in the Residence Inn in Room 714, which we discovered today was right next to poor Karen's room. She can't ever seem to get a break.

-- Andrew Tran, University of Texas, The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun