HSLP 08 Day 1, Saturday July 12

High School Leaders Program Class of 2008
Day 1—Saturday, July 12
Reported by: Michelle Kinzer and David Newill-Smith

     It was 11:30am when my family arrived at Bice hall. We expected a whole flood of people to be filing in to the building with lamps, luggage and pillows, but it turns out we were a bit early. Very early actually…we were the first ones here. As it got closer to 12:00 though, cars began to wander into the parking lot. The families and students started unpacking and settling in. When I first saw my apartment suite I was so excited! I unloaded my corn pops and bagels in the kitchen, my laptop and notebooks on my desk and all my dress clothes for the next two weeks into my spacious wardrobe. It was surreal to finally be here after all the anticipation.
     At 2:00pm we met in the lobby of Bice for the beginning of the orientation. Our parents went down in the basement lounge to learn all about what we will be doing for the next couple of weeks and the students went on an exhausting tour of the campus. It sure is hot in Charlottesville in July! When we met back up with our parents it was time to say goodbye until graduation. The last thing that my mom said to me was, “I’ll be checking the newsroom every day for updates of what you’re up to!” So…hi mom!
     Right away we began a jam-packed day full of activities. What a schedule! First we played a fun icebreaker game to get to know each other a bit better. I learned a wide variety of things about people from what movies and food they like to what specific bones they have broken. After getting to know all of our classmates we ate dinner in the Bice basement lounge. We then split up into teams and set off on a campus scavenger hunt. What a fun way to get to know our way around the grounds! My personal favorite tasks that my team completed were kissing the Thomas Jefferson statue on the lawn, building a human pyramid and reenacting a scene from a Disney movie on the amphitheater stage.
     When we returned to Bice around 8:45pm we played the song lyrics game in teams, and then we went back in the basement for a super hilarious game of telephone charades. It ’s like the game telephone, but instead of whispering into the next person’s ear, you act out the word. We ended up with some pretty twisted answers when the last person had to guess the word. Somehow rollercoaster turned into a car crash, flamingo turned into the chicken dance and elephant turned into a religious prayer ritual. Finally when we returned to our rooms and we all ate ice cream sundaes in Emily’s room. Now it’s 11:00pm and I am thoroughly worn out! I want to get some sleep for tomorrow, but at the same time I really want to hang out with all my new friends. I’m totally excited for the next two weeks!
—Michelle Kinzer of Annandale High School

We passed through the doors of Bice Hall around 12:00.  After lugging my home up the two terrible flights on the elevator, I tried to make some sense of how to put my life together for the next two weeks.  Over the next two hours, my roommates drifted in with their belongings.  Though the room was slightly crowded with the armies of parents barracked beside us, with their help we got moved in fairly quickly, said our goodbyes, and started off on the tour.
     From Thorton Hall and the classrooms to the corner to the lawn, we toured the sights of good ole UVA.  And what a sight it was.  That’s probably the most inspiring thing about UVA to me.  I look around and see the 200-year-old buildings surrounding me, see Edgar Allen Poe’s room, and Thomas Jefferson’s statue, and bask in the presence of the greatest men in the history of the United States.  I’m standing and learning in the same place where Madison and Jefferson once stood. And it amazes me.
     We returned to Bice Hall for the orientation, a couple name games where we all tried our best to not fall over everyone else, and then went out for the scavenger hunt.  We kissed statues, embarrassed bearded men wearing madras pants, and then Caroline stated that a guy across the street was indeed wearing…pants.  Finally after several trips to the UVA Corner and harassing the UVA souvenir shop employees for a Virginia Tech shirt (all in good fun of course), we returned home to dinner and night of singing, telephone charades, and ice cream, and we ended a full, fun day. A good start to a promising two weeks.
—David Newill-Smith of Clover Hill High School in Chesterfield County