There was one thought in my mind as my dad dropped me off in front of NDP for my first day of school. What even was freshman orientation? I felt like Harry Potter in The Sorcerer’s Stone; a tiny bit terrified, but mostly excited beyond belief, and operating under the belief that the first day of school may or may not include a test that hurts a lot.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Freshmen sat in the auditorium upon arriving. We were given a few minutes to acquaint ourselves with our neighbors, find old friends, and (of course) talk.

Ms. Kaiser introduced us to Sister Patricia, the Headmistress, who gave the freshmen our first homework of the year. “I want you to go home and tell each of your family members, ‘Namaste.'” She explained to us that the meaning of namaste is roughly, “The god in me greets the god in you.”

After this, Ms. Bilenki taught us the school song. Just like every other NDP freshman class, we all instinctively knew to hit the t in “white” especially hard.

Then, we had a snack and did a small assignment to prove that we had read the Headmistress’s Choice, a small but insightful book called Choosing Civility.

Finally, we hit the highlight of the day: the scavenger hunt. This was mostly to get us acquainted with the school building, which as we all know, can be really huge depending on how you look at it. As freshmen, we were definitely a little bit cowed by the grounds. However, no one was lost forever, locked in a utility closet, fell down the stairs, and/or turned into one of Mr. Peri’s gerbils, so the scavenger hunt was pulled off smoothly.

All in all, freshman orientation was a smash hit.