Newcomers bring
new contributions
"I was worried that it would be hard at first to communicate with people from so many
new places, because I'm a bit shy," said England native Adam Nash '20 when he arrived
on campus for first-year orientation. He's the first member of his family to attend
college or to seriously venture abroad.
He was one of 70 incoming international students who participated in a pre-orientation
that included a hike in the Adirondack Mountains. Everything looked and felt new to
him, but he says he quickly "made so many friends, because everybody here is really
open and willing to talk."
For all new students, Opening Convocation served as a formal induction into the Skidmore
community, and Mary Lou Bates, the enrollment VP, shared a few tidbits of what the
incomers bring to the party:
- a US top ranking in Scrabble
- volunteer experience, from protecting trout habitats, caring for wolves in Colorado, and rehabilitating monkeys in South Africa to work at domestic-abuse shelters, Ivan Lendl's adaptive sports camp, and the Red Crescent in Syria
- for one student, residencies in Nigeria, the Netherlands, France, England, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and the USA
- jobs as beekeepers, farmers, bakers, a deck boss on a fishing vessel, a leathersmith, a beachside fry cook, and a busker in Scotland
- performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall
For a video, photos, and more, see the full wrap-up here.
