Today was another hectic, fun-filled day at Shad Valley Lakehead. It’s hard to believe that it has only been 10 days since I first arrived in Thunder Bay because I have made 64 new best friends in such a short amount of time!
My day started earlier than usual as my group for the talent show met up before breakfast to practice our dance to the musical, “Hairspray’s” Lady’s Choice. Shad is all about getting out of your comfort zone, and the whole community is so tight knit that although I would not normally get up on stage and dance (I am definitely not a graceful dancer) I enjoyed laughing at my own dancing and doing something fun with my friends. I knew that no one would make fun of me because we all constantly do things that we wouldn’t normally do.
The first lecture of the day occurred directly after breakfast; I was really excited about it because it was the lecture on forensic medicine, given by Dr. Michael Wilson. Dr. Wilson made the lecture fascinating by giving us case studies. The thing that I love about the lectures we get here at Shad is that they are all so interactive that you are rarely bored, even if the lecture is 3 hours long.
After lunch came fitness, in which all the firms competed in a dodge ball tournament, which my firm won! Fresh air and exercising are definitely wonderful reprieves from the rigorous academic side of the Shad curriculum.
After dinner, we all met back at the ATAC building to work in our Shad Cup groups. Shad Cup is the biggest, most important project that we have at Shad Valley and because of that, tension runs high between all group members. However, I also feel as though I learn a lot from these meetings. Every Shad excels in their own way, and I feel as though working with everyone else allows me to grow in ways I never expected. No longer do I feel like in a group project I have to assume responsibility for everything myself. Instead, all members share the responsibility and contribute our specific talents to do the best that we can. I believe I got particularly lucky with my group because even though we argue sometimes, we know how to calm down and have fun. For example, today my group did trust exercises. As lame as it sounds, these games really helped us loosen up and have fun, and strengthen our trust within our group, and by the end of the meeting, we had come up with three great new potential ideas.
Finally, after the Late Show, we all get some free time to wind down after a long day. I went to the lounge and played foosball with some of the guys. After, I sat down and began writing this piece for the blog with help from other Shads. Then, sleep deprived but content I lay down on my bed and fell asleep instantly, only to be awoken by the sound of the staff knocking on my door for room checks at 1 am. As crazy as it is, I love my Shad life!
Ally Moosabhoy, Shad Lakehead University 2011
Hometown: Toronto, ON
