Atmosphere

First quasi-real full day done; it went well. The guided tour was done well - it came in two flavors, long and short. I took the long one - about 2/3 of us did. No one can say that the Kellogg people don't put on a good show. Everything is a class act; they get all the details right. Everywhere you go, there's coffee, water, sodas, snacks. etc. That kind of stuff goes a long way with me. It's so easy to screw up the small things, and it's so hard to get them right. Kellogg gets those small things right. I think it's mostly Denise, who seems like the coordinator of the place.

The experiential learning exercise wasn't soymilk. OK, it was kinda soymilk, but if like soymilk actually tasted good and had health benefits commensurate with its advertising. Here's the drill: you and a group of five others are in the middle of a forest fires, and you have a series of ten events in which you must come to a consensus on what to do (eg - the uphill slope leading to the ridgeline is 200' long and free of fire, do you a) continue on the trail; b) traverse the incline, etc. etc. ) There are real "right" answers, but you have to suss out what you'd do and compromise and stuff. I'll tell you: the random stuff people come up with never ceases to amaze me. I mean, some of it's right and some of it's wrong, but I'll go to my grave not knowing how the hell people's heads work.

Afterwards I went to the dining hall. On the right hand side is all you can eat for $x and on the left is a food court; I went to the food court and had something small. Next: appetizers and open bar. Waste not, want not. At the food court, I was afraid my ID (which has $ loaded onto it) wouldn't work, but it did. It's the small things. the details.

The reception was again a class act. Good food, open bar, just Corona and Yuengling, though. I know plenty of people that swear by Yuengling, but I'm not one of them. It has a grit to it or something. Corona's not my favorite, but I had two. I met my advisor; his name is Mick, and he's sharp. In the hour or so I spent with him, I was able to steal two high-quality ideas, both of which I plan to take back. Here they are:

Short term: Move housekeeping to the end of class. Housekeeping at the beginning of class discourages timeliness. Have them submit their own attendance via index cars with any feedback. Needs tweaking, but it's good.

Long term: etc. Edison together with the community. His was ACT. Appalachian and the Community Together. I think etc. is cooler than ACT.

All in all a good night, a good day. Here's the itinerary for tomorrow:

9 - 11:30 / Welcome (Hunter Boylan)
1-4 / Introduction to assessment and placement

Formation of special interest groups