It’s been 48 hours. Much has been said and much has been done. Something special has been built connecting the 59 of us. Something that can only grow – a community. Today, June 29th was just the third day, but to us we’ve known each other for eternity. The morning started off with another inspirational speech on “Shad by Design” in our Designer Boot camp. We learned how our world is filled with many complex problems, and it is important to realize that many steps are required to achieve a solution. And to get a better solution, we must raise our standards and challenge ourselves.
After an amazing lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, fruits, soup and carrot cake (thanks to the Mennonite community), we finished off our lesson on design. We were then separated into groups of 8 and told that during dinner, we had think of a musical piece, which we had to then perform after dinner. Although each group had varying amounts of musical experience (some oboe players, some pianists and others with no idea what to do), we all performed extremely well! Before our 10:00 snack, we took half an hour to reflect on our experience so far. This period of time was spent with each of us on our own, writing in our journals on what Shad meant to us so far. For me, it was the people, and the things I learned from them. They are all truly amazing, every last one of them – no exceptions. They are forever engrained in my heart, and you know what? It’s only been 48 hours.
Prarthana Chandran, Shad Valley University of Waterloo 2010
Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
