Orientation 2007

I had been on vacation for a couple of months, so it was difficult to get out of bed for the 8:30 start time of the MLIS orientation. I made it to campus driven by large quantities of caffeine and my percolating excitement for the upcoming two years. Upon arrival, I knew my new colleagues were already acclimating to Seattle life as they hovered around with coffee in hand, discussing their advisor appointments, while awaiting their turn to be photographed for our directory.

The Residential-MLIS orientation began with Karen Fisher and Marie Potter’s introduction to the program before Dr. Harry Bruce took to the podium. During Bruce’s welcome we learned that this cohort was the most competitive in the iSchool’s history with only a 42% acceptance rate. This was mostly an informational session, however my peers and I had fun getting to know each other during the introductory ice-breaker. From my casual conversations with other first year students, I feel confidant in saying that the highlight of the morning session occurred near the end when we broke into groups lead by second-year students who gave us the inside scoop on the “unofficial” information of the iSchool.

During the afternoon, all of the new iSchool students convened in Kane Hall for our official welcome to the school. The faculty introduced themselves and their research and we were ushered upstairs for a social event. Here my colleagues and I learned and put into practice our first professional lesson during our tenure at the iSchool – the importance of building relationships because of the interdisciplinary nature of our work.