Dozens of emails sent out, weeks of planning, presentations, volunteers, trips to Navy Pier, new friends, new school, all culminated in the class of 2029’s bridge program. It sounds great, but was it really all that? No, it wasn’t. But, I’m not saying that it was a complete waste of time, because that wouldn’t be true.
As a new student, the bridge program itself was excellent. I met so many amazing people, connected through seeing Chicago from a birdseye view, and got soaked on a boat ride. We all laughed and were part of a community.
Then there was orientation. Orientation was where the event began to fall flat. The amount of days it took was fine enough. However, the way those days were used could use an improvement. Personally, I was not too happy about getting up, going to school at 10 a.m., and getting out at 7 p.m. Not really my thing. Maybe I had that feeling because of the hours, or maybe it was because we didn’t get any choices. It was too set up, too programmed. It didn’t feel real. We were put together in pre-made groups, and it got very awkward very quickly. I was tired of being there. I had my friends, but the program itself was mind numbing and condescending. If they had shortened it by four hours, it would have served the students better. I, for one, can’t handle being stuck with the same 76 people for nine hours. For comparison, the school day is seven-and-a-half hours, with the groups of students shifting constantly due to changing classes. However, it could also just be the location. School is school. It sets a mood that I perceived as gloomy. To me, everything that happened there, everything that was told to us, didn’t really stick because it was repetitive. I haven’t met a lot of people who enjoy being at school before, especially during the summer.
For the class of 2030, they should go somewhere for a weekend to actually experience something. Spend a day learning the fundamentals of Upper School at school before hopping on a bus and going into the woods with some tents, marshmallows, and ghost stories, and really bonding. We should not just sit awkwardly in our groups, but actually gather around and get to know each other. Four years is a long time. It’s better to have them be the best four years with people you know and get along with, and the best way to accomplish that is to start off the experience right.
So, next year, get rid of the groups. They didn’t work. Instead, if the groups are necessary, switch them up every day. It will help everyone get to know each other a lot faster. I went through orientation, bridge, the first week of school, part of the second week, and walked into graderoom thinking I knew everyone in our grade, but I was wrong. I didn’t know a quarter of the people in that room. I didn’t even know their faces. We weren’t allowed to integrate enough with each other. It was all stiffly coordinated with small groups and planning.
Sometimes it’s better to just have things run their course. Let us sit where we want during lunch, let the students lead with activities, send out polls with different options of what we could do and afterwards, let us give feedback. And please, never have us do condescending, pointless, icebreakers ever again. I remember sitting in a circle in the library while one of our orientation leaders talked about a car crash during “two truths one lie.” I was just exchanging awkward glances with the other kids in my group thinking, “what is even happening right now?” It was definitely an experience, but not one that built memories together, just confusion.
High school is already a nerve wracking experience, especially when two-thirds of your classmates have known each other for years. Giving us choices would help lessen the anxiety and help us grow into confident leaders that the school suggests they want to develop. The experiences I had helped us get to know each other, but they are shallow, and could be doing so much more. Obviously you can’t become the best of friends in a matter of hours, but, you can have more meaningful experiences with each other than just looking at a VR version of Chicago.
Some of the activities were fun, with bowling and the arcade being my favorite. I got to make a new friend, and I got a roll of photos from the tiny photobooth we managed to cram the four of us into for a rather unflattering photoshoot. The boat ride was drenching but decent, and the flyover left the same impression. Being a 2D experience, not very much was memorable, but it had potential. During all the events we were all bunched up in our groups, there was a fine line drawn between the cliques, and no one ever seemed to successfully cross it. Yes, attempts were made by Mr. Bruno and Ms. Zeller to integrate us, but they were all planned out as if we were pawns, not people. I think the best fix for orientation would be to have orientation be more student led. Open up feedback docs, put out a poll, let them decide. Let them lead. Only then can orientation live up to everything the emails told us it was going to be, which would be a fun experience where we would become a community.