The Week of the Nations

You might have noticed that last week I didn't do a blog post. Oh, no...now I'm going to get fired. But really, last week was so crazy awesome busy that I quite frankly didn't have time to write a post. Now I'm here about ready to start back work and classes for my LAST semester here at UGA. WHAT!? How the time flies by...

Speaking of time flying by, I helped move my sister into O-House today. (And Areshia and I discovered that it is possible to carry a futon up two flights of stairs.) Lauren is so old - that little freshman. It brought back memories of when I moved into the dorms three years ago this time. I look back over my years here at UGA and am excited for her years here in the Classic City.

If you're wondering what I was doing last week, (and have somehow been oblivious to all the pictures and posts on Facebook) I was a World Leader for ISO, International Student Orientation. What is a World Leader, you might be wondering...Well, I'm glad you asked! Because that's what I'm going to tell you here in this post. 

You can't sum up what it means to be a World Leader (WL) in one word, but if I had to, that word would be amazinglyawesome. That's one word, right? But really, I was nervous coming in. I wasn't sure if I would be able to form meaningful friendships with the other World Leaders, let alone be able to connect with the hundreds of international students who were coming in to the university. I think those feeling are normal though. After just having spent my summer in a new environment, I was once again putting myself into a situation out of my comfort zone and had no way of knowing the outcome. 

Athens Adventure

Let me start by giving you a rundown of the week. Last Saturday and Sunday was orientation training, a time when we had the opportunity to meet and get to know our fellow World Leaders. We figured out our schedules for the upcoming week, played a lot of name games and team bonding games, and had the chance to hear and give feedback on the presentations for the week. 

Monday was check-in and move-in (to temp housing) day for the international students. I was on van student pick-up duty. It was a great way to get to know about 20 of the students as I picked them up from their hotel or wherever they needed to be picked up in Athens and took them to Memorial Hall for check-in. I ended up having someone from every continent (except Antarctica haha) in my van, and getting to meet people from all over was so much fun! That afternoon, I was on check-in table number 1, and got to greet heaps more of students as the came through the doors. That night we had a welcome dinner for the students along with a surprise trip to Walmart, cause who doesn't love some late night Wally World? 

The rest of the week was filled with friends, fun, and free food. (Oh, the alliteration.) There was bowling on Tuesday, a pool party on Wednesday, and DT dinner on Thursday, and a tour of Sanford Stadium followed by a scavenger hunt/game night on Friday. I won't be forgetting the late night games of Mafia and various card games played in the Mell lobby into the early hours of the morning. Saturday involved yet another Walmart trip (longer this time), and a trip to the movies. I saw "Lucy," a scifi film based off of what would happen if, in theory, you were able to access 100% of your brain. I thought it wasn't as good as the previews had made it out to be, but I'm glad I got to see it. 

Pool Party Turned Dance Party

On Sunday, we went to Sandy Creek Park. There was a little hesitation in the morning because it looked like it was going to rain, but we loaded up the vans and headed out anyway. I spent the day playing beach v-ball, throwing the frisbee, doing a little swimming, and canoeing. Canoeing took up our last hour in the park - by the time we all got our canoes out to the middle of the lake, it started pouring. That will be a memory that I won't be forgetting for a long time. I felt like I was in one of those movies, like "The Notebook" or something. It was absolutely glorious. 

Frans With His Awesome Tongis

When Monday came around, I was actually a little sad. It was move-out-of-temporary-housing-and-into-the-dorms day. We checked the international students out of Mell, loaded their luggage into vans, took the students and their luggage to their dorms, and helped them check-in and move into their dorm. There was lots of hugging and goodbye-for-nows involved, and that was to follow over into the World Leader lunch after the moving process had come to an end.

When it comes to the end of things, it was a very long and tiring week. But as I told Talal one night after playing Mafia until after midnight, I would do it all over again if given the chance. I wish I had heard about World Leaders sooner, but I'm so glad I got to have this experience before I graduate from UGA. 

Sanford Stadium Tour

Go Dawgs. And a shout out to the nations and all the amazing people I got to meet this past week.

Megan