Convocation and Student Activity Fair

During the first week of school I was asked to speak at the convocation. Convocation? Yup, that's a word. I had no idea what it was or what it meant. I did a little research, in my spare time, ha, and found out that a convocation is like a celebration of the new school year, kind of like the ceremony of graduation at the end of the year. The only way to understand it fully, was to accept the honor and attend the ceremony. I was asked to memorize a line that described our purpose as a community. Memorization is not a strong point for me, so my weekend consisted of homework, kids, and learning my line.

Convocation Altar

On Monday, September 14th at noon, the President of the college, the college administration, most of the advisers, professors, staff and students crowded into the big white tent in the lawn of the school. Some students sat on the lawn soaking in some rare autumn rays. The ceremony was really nice. There were speeches, mainly about community and why we are all here and the goals of the school. Personally I loved the speech that involved fortune cookies. I got up and lit my candle and spoke my line, as did the other 5 students, and heard the blessing of the school year. Now its official - game on.

GBCC common purposes

After the convocation, Mike Fischer, President Arvelo, Dan Murphy, and other teachers cooked for everyone,cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, beverages and cookies. The line was long but the vibe was good. Inside, students were setting up their tables for the activity fair. Some of the clubs and organizations are invite only, others are geared to specific interests, but all are run by students. The Student Senate and the Campus Activity Board (CAB) were conducting surveys, the International Club were hanging and eating their lunch, the Digital Art and Media Club (the Dam Club, as they like to be called) were handing out flyers about signs and laminating specials for any organization that might need graphic artwork done. The Great Bay Nursing Association was there selling merchandise and the Kappa Beta Delta Business Honor Society had an informative table set up showcasing the requirements for admission. The Literary Journal was and still is looking for writers and participants and the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering had a poster board up describing what students can do to get involved. There are other organizations and clubs that weren't showcased on Monday that can be found on the schools web page under student life. All of these clubs and groups have bulletin boards around the school and have their advisers e-mail address's listed on the school web-site. You can join these clubs anytime and can participate as much as you want.

I never joined a club because I thought, "Like I'm gonna have time for that too?" Well, I do. I go to one meeting a month, and maybe perform some kind of community service (that I never would do by myself), I make some new friends (that will come in handy for networking in my future), I can go on really cheap trips, and my resume has one more activity...who could say no to that?