Ring! Ring!
That's what we all heard at 6am this moring when we had our first fire drill. Dizzily, we jumped out of bed and went out into the cold morning. Clearly not a typical way of waking up to another exciting day at Shad Valley, but we were still ecstatic for the day's activities and to hang out with everyone (Yes, EVERYONE).
It's only been 3 days and it seems like we're just as comfortable to talk to anyone as if we've known them for months. As usual, the meals at McConnell Hall were amazing and the dining hall is also classically beautiful. Today, we divided into groups. Some of us went on an excruciatingly hot but worthwhile walk to Stan Cassidy Center (which is a rehabilitation centre), where we were given a tour of the unique technology and were also given insight to the lives of those with physical or mental disabilities. All that we learned will definitely help us with our theme. After, we invested in stocks (just a simulation of course) pretending to be like the world's richest people.
The night was lively and exciting. It started off with figuring out the problems different groups would solve relating to the theme. Amazingly, we narrowed down 59 ideas to a few strong ones. Then, another voting procedure was done to decide T-shirt colors. Shouts, clapping and drum rolls filled our lecture room. To finish the day off, we had game night. It was my first time playing Apples to Apples and it was...well, very interesting.
Waking up at 6am and sleeping at 12am here at UNB seems crazy, but it's definitely the enriching experience we were all promised. I now realize it's not only going to be an insight to university life...but a unique magnifying glass to life itself and all the relationships to be gained. If you know you can be one of many unique Shads, there is no argument to be made to not go for it!
Ara Dungca, Shad Valley University of New Brunswick 2011
Hometown: Winnipeg, MB
