The SP Orientation 2011 concluded with the Boston Aquarium tour on September 17th. We had fun dancing to the tunes of Beyonce and Lady Gaga, munching freshly grilled burgers with a chilled beer in hand, brunching on the best Sunday breakfast ever and roaming around Boston. In the Orientation Newsletter, we, the SP orientation committee, promised to bring you a series of fun and fabulous events and that is exactly what we did. Let’s take a moment to review some of the fun we have had.
The Orientation Dance Party with the raised dance floor and a superb DJ performace (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)
The Orientation Dance Party was on the evening of September 2nd and what a party it was! With over four hundred people, this must had been the best orientation party in town. I am not the only person saying that. A couple of my friends from Sloan, who have organized spectacular parties in places like Seattle and DC, joined the party that night and were like “awesome party, dude!” Students who attended almost all the parties during this orientation season still remember Sidney-Pacific’s as the best one. I seriously hope you didn’t miss it. With the weather in our favor and the mood in the air, it was all-a-tapping for guys and girls on the dance floor. Interestingly, the raised dancing platform was actually not part of the original plan. Although it took a while to set it up, I’m glad we did it. We had an absolutely superb DJ performance. They really amazed everyone with the screen setup in front of the dance floor showing the music video of the song. It was pure joy to see so many of the new residents come and enjoy the dance party. We ended the party with a birthday celebration for George Lan, President of Sidney-Pacific.
The Orientation Brunch attracted more than 400 students. (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)
The Orientation Brunch on September 4th was an outstanding event in its own right. Over four hundred students attended, with a lot of first year students from all of the graduate houses on campus. We started the preparation at 7 AM in the SP kitchen. From cooking scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, baked beans, sausage, and bacon to cutting all sorts of fresh fruit, it was a heroic task that was accomplished in a record time by a group of fifty-some dedicated SP volunteers. Ozge, our beloved brunch chair, worked really hard and did an excellent job of managing all the enthusiastic volunteers. Three serving queues were opened simultaneously to reduce the wait time. In about twenty minutes, we served around four hundred students. They were out in the courtyard eating, chatting, mingling or just plainly enjoying the sunshine. Many residents liked the fact that the brunch menu was advertised on the corridor walls next to the queue. Seeing it in advance added to the gourmet pleasure.
The Rock ‘n Roast Orientation BBQ was held on the evening of September 10th. Every year Sidney-Pacific has a tradition of organizing the best BBQ on the campus, be it in terms of food, fun, or friends. It just runs in the SP blood and we can’t help it! A tremendous amount of preparation had to be done in advance because of the scale of the event. Fortunately, we had many volunteers showing up right from the start and many of them were new residents of SP. This was one of those “see it to believe it” type of event. Volunteers showed up, took a task and the job got done. Whether it was husking three hundred corn ears, chopping up thirty pounds of onions and forty pounds of tomatoes, grilling one thousand burgers or raising a mammoth screen for our outdoor movie screening pleasure, it was all accomplished with lots of fun. The whole event went smoothly and efficiently, thanks to all the volunteers. I sometimes wonder if these are some extraordinary people I am living with or if SP is just a unique place that makes it all happen! Perhaps it is both!
Every year Sidney-Pacific has a tradition of organizing the best BBQ on the campus. (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)
During the BBQ, residents enjoyed fresh juicy burgers, wholesome fruits, and cold beverages while being entertained by the music. Keeping in line with the international culture of SP, we served vegetarian, turkey and braided chicken burgers, besides the usual beef burgers. Was that all? Well, there was Tim the Beaver, our school’s mascot, going around shaking hands with his fellow classmates. We also had representatives from Zipcar at a table in the courtyard and they were very impressed by the turnout. After sunset, an outdoor movie was screened and many of us watched it with friends while sipping on hot coffee.
Getting to know your Housemasters in the Housemaster's Welcome Dinner. (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)
Housemaster’s Welcome Dinner, Bike Auction Coffee Hour, French Dessert Outing, and Art Crawl were all very successful events and were well-attended by the residents. All of the organizers collected good memories along the way that we will cherish for time to come. We hope that you also had your share. We are interested to hear your feedback on these events. We’ve already heard that almost everyone could find an event that suited his or her interest. Also, many new residents appreciated the fact that we used composting in almost all of the SP orientation events, but we want to know how we can do better next year, so take a moment to fill out the Orientation survey later in the newsletter.
“All good things must come to an end” and so the orientation season has come to an end. But wait, that doesn’t mean the fun is over! We just had our ice cream outing and SPICE Coffee Hour and we have various interesting events coming up too. Please see the SP announcement and the website for the schedule of these upcoming social events.
Sidney-Pacific, Make it Yours!
By Birendra Jha and Hussam Zebian, SP Orientation Chairs