By Julz Levesque | Arts & Culture Editor
On September 16th the CMS department invited the students of USM to a beginning-of-the-year welcome event in Wishcamper on the Portland campus. I would know because I received an email which piqued my interest, and immediately I decided to go. So there I was, walking into room 102, anticipating the events that would unfold.
Awkwardly I sat at one of the round tables in the middle of the room with Free Press photographer Liz Hildebrandt and her friend that I just so happened to meet that day. We were chatting when two of our current professors, Nat Ives, who teaches the production labs, and Dennis Gilbert, who teaches the film studies classes and various other media studies courses, came strolling up to sit with us. I had never really talked to any of my professors outside of a classroom setting before; already, I was nervous that I’d be asked a million questions about filming techniques and cameras… tomorrow’s homework.
Naturally, I began to brace myself as I was cracking my knuckles nervously and running through every possible dialogue option in my head. I’m sort of a professional when it comes to overthinking that. When I was asked if I had any of the refreshments, I pretty much short-circuited. What do you mean that wasn’t a part of the script?
Soon enough, we were all getting to know each other more and began talking about our favorite Western films and how things were going… Nothing about homework or future due dates, to my relief; however, I got some tips on future articles I was writing. Liz got up to take some photos after more people showed and I got up to take the free Babybel cheeses (I had never had the Gouda kind, but it was fantastic). We have different priorities is all I can say. We all continued to talk until it was time for us to leave, and even then, there were so many other people I didn’t get the chance to speak to.
Welcome events and events thrown on campus, in general, are a great way for students to talk and get to know their professors one-on-one, make new connections, learn more about their community, and a lot of the time, it’s a great way to find some good free food. I mean I was asked to take a bunch of freebies, and no way was I passing that up. I had my pockets full of Babybel cheeses.
Keep your eye out for emails regarding events like these because the USM staff puts tons of effort into creating welcoming environments where you can network and converse with those who have the same experience as you or those who have more experience and can be a great source for advice as you navigate through your college career. Did I mention the free food?