Nevis Life As A Wife: Orientation Day

Monday January 5, 2014

So today was the big day! Getting an official tour of the campus and meeting the rest of the students in Kyle's class, Man...I learned a lot today haha :S

We arrived to the main classroom just before 8:30 am. Picked a seat near the back of the class, as most people were already eagerly waiting and taking up the front rows. I liked the back near the windows because I could see the ocean right outside :)

We met a bunch of the Professors who were all wearing white shirts. I don't remember anyone's name because ALL of them were so soft spoken it was hard to hear what they said. However the room was air conditioned, so that was nice for Kyle.

I won't bore you guys with all the specific details, but we were stuck in that room until almost noon talking about ways to study, and what not to do. Here are some of the main points:

The Executive Dean is from Vancouver -fan of the Canucks

Half students from US half from Canada- most from Ontario

Another professor looked like a grumpy old man and I couldn't tell if he was being serious or funny. I laughed at what he talked about but I'm sure if I was a student I would be freaked out.

He talked about socialization protocols.

Don't date other students!

Don't drink!

Don't do drugs! "It's time to be adults now"

Go to class!

I didn't feel like an adult at all the way he was talking to us. I guess that's why I laughed a lot.

I'll stick to going to the beach :)

The next professor came in a little softer to us, tried to ease everyone into the program, saying that the professors are there to help you in every way possible. He even had slides saying we need to be nice to each other...haha man, I felt bad for Kyle, because I really don't think that's what he expected from orientation.

After being lectured on the Do's and Don'ts of campus life and oh yes random drug testing will be performed on students, it was time to fill out some forms.

That's when things got interesting. Kyle and I predicted a lot of people wouldn't be prepared, and we were right. So many questions people had.

My advice for new students, read the information package when you get accepted! It tells you exactly what forms you need with you on the island. You need 2 passport sized photos, you do need a criminal record check. If you are a spouse, you need all that stuff too.

Then a police officer showed up to talk to us about laws...it was kinda funny when she was talking about speed limits. She says the island is 20mph, but we have definitely been in cars where they are driving 70mph

I did learn to not rent a car with a P for the license plate. She tried to explain the process of buying a car, it seemed very confusing and when we talked to the students from Med 5, most of them have survived without a car just fine, so for now we won't be getting one.

Over all...don't get arrested.

Then the students from med 5 showed up and answer questions students had. A lot of the questions were about things that would happen in a few months from now. Seemed unnecessary to me. And of course the students who had their parents with them were asking funny questions. The question period took a long time, and parents were asking about ways to study. I know they are concerned for their child I just don't think how they studied when they went to school will be the same for everyone. One person was from Hamilton.

Anyway then we went on a tour around the campus, it was very pretty. Saw the different buildings, went to the cafeteria and had a free meal. It was yummy, seemed like some real Caribbean food.

During lunch we chatted to the seniors and got some insight to a few things. They seemed pretty chill haha. One thing that seemed important is that when choosing a place to live around campus they said not to live in the Serenity buildings. Apparently the land lord tries to scam people a lot and get into a bunch of law suits with them. We live in the Prudential Buildings in Potworks, and the Serenity Building is right next to us.

They also said a lot about being in pre med and that Kyle will have a leg up on everyone. So I'm happy for him with that. I won't go into specifics because most of the stuff doesn't affect first years anyway. My favourite part though was when we split into groups, one girl was like "Well there shouldn't be any Pre-Med students in our group so we don't have to talk about that" then Kyle said, "actually we are" and the girl says "then you should be in the other group", "Nope, the Pre-Med group is so large so they told us to split up a bit."

I mean come on, does it even matter? You went to one different building for where the Pre-Med students go, and it was on the way to the cafeteria. My goodness!

So I guess that's my first rant ahaha. It felt good to get it out. Thanks for letting me share!

After lunch we headed to wait in a line so Kyle could get his photo ID and set up his computers. While in line we chatted to some fellow Canadians, one guy from BC who is as tall as Kyle!! And another couple of guys from Ottawa. The guy from BC lives in the same area as us. So hopefully Kyle has a good study buddy.

I chatted to the other couple we met yesterday a bit and it seems like we are the only couples that are starting this semester. However there is a Spouses of Students group on campus and I introduced myself to the guy who runs it so hopefully I can get connected with them.

Sitting in the computer lab while Kyle sets up his stuff. We got a lecture from the IT guy.

Don't use up our bandwidth!!

Not enough Internet to be downloading. Hehe...kinda funny.

Someone just asked what bit torrent is... I'm sitting here looking around at some of these people who are claiming they want to be doctors and take care of me when I'm sick. I just hope they are able to do that, and based on their lack of common sense I have seen so far... I'm worried.

I'm so proud and thankful that Kyle has had some real life experience before coming here..I know he is going to do well. I know I may not be as smart as these people, but I feel that I have some life experience that I know how to register a computer and set up wifi...

Being taught how to wrap computer cords...wow...

Okay another mini rant again, I couldn't resist.

So I learned 3 things today

1. Be nice to each other

2. Don't get arrested

3. Study

So I guess if you are a new student reading this, those are my take aways from Orientation. Maybe if you ask a real student, they might say something different, but as a spouse that's what I learned.

Here are the pics from today: