Saturday, September 5, 2009

Student retreat - Iroquois Springs

I'm 30 and going back to camp.

I was apprehensive about this whole out in the middle of nowhere, singing Kumbaya with my fellow Wagner newbies. Thankfully, this camp wasn't anything like what I expected (trust exercises and "3 facts about me" conversations).

My fellow Wagner classmates are a varied and damn cool bunch. It was the first time I was part of a policy discussion where I didn't have much to offer. And after meeting them, I've realized that I have a heck of a lot more traveling to do.

The faculty were super approachable, making me feel all warm inside about my choice of school. There is a strong sense of community, you feel it right when you get to camp. I'm really impressed with how smoothly they pulled off the entire thing. From all the "activities", to just getting us to mingle and network. And the surprise beer and wine at the campfire was just what we needed. It wouldn't have been the same with only Smores.

There were a number of quotable quotes, but the one that stood out was Dean Schall's - "Vision without a strategic plan is a hallucination". I think I'm going to really enjoy my 2 years at Wagner. I'm going to learn so much about myself. I can't wait!

My only suggestion - next year pick a place that is a lot warmer, or one that has thicker blankets.

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