Today started with the realization that there were exactly nine more days remaining in Shad, and that already nineteen days had passed by in some sort of giant frenzy of lectures, trips to cities and islands, fencing, soccer, volleyball, basketball, swimming, design challenges, prototyping, musical concerts, business planning, and the countless number of extremely top-secret Shadly activities. From 5K runs at seven in the morning with Meghan to ab workouts at midnight with Jen and everything in between, each day has been filled with activities and workshops so varied and amazing that it makes one come to realize how nineteen days could pass by so fast – or if you prefer, makes one realize how incredibly precious these next few days will be.
Today began with two lectures in the morning at Chernoff Hall – the first about the darker side of psychology and the dangers of the group mentality, the second about how math can be applied to lining up the tombstones of a cemetery. Rec time followed the lectures, which today was a special lawn party-themed event that included croquet, bocci ball, and foot races in addition to badminton, volleyball, and soccer. After lunch, it was off to the ILC to present the workshops which we had been taking for the past two days. In the six hours of my workshop on Monday and Tuesday, I learned how to bake biscuits, pita, chapatti, baguettes, two kinds of pies, and four kinds of bread, all from scratch. It was quite the experience to see flour, water, and yeast almost magically rise in the oven to produce enough food to feed a small army, which as I later learned at snack on Tuesday night is about the equivalent of 47 hungry Shads. After the presentations, which also included several clever strategies on how to win games, the firing of a couple trebuchets, and an explanation of networking, it was straight to projects and prototyping for our month-long challenge. As I discovered, operating a jigsaw is not quite as simple as it would seem to be, but regardless I got the job done in the end. After dinner, we had a special guest lecturer and a screening of a documentary concerning an amazing developmental aid project in Tanzania, and then it was back to McNeill house for a game of Cranium, Shad-style. With everything from blindfolded Pictionary to charades to sculptorades with play-doh, it was quite the game of fun and hilarity.
As I sit in my room at 1:22 in the morning remembering everything which took place today, it makes me realize how insanely inspirational the past nineteen days have been. Tomorrow holds a trip to Fort Henry and most probably a late night working on the project, but I’ll say with all the confidence in the world that Shad has been an absolutely amazing experience so far. The people you meet, the things you see, and the things you learn – everything comes together in one extraordinary and entirely limitless experience in the twenty-seven days we spend together. If anyone ever asks me what Shad Valley is about, well then ladies and gentlemen, this is what Shad Valley is all about.
Eric Yung, Shad Valley Queen's University 2010
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
