The end of the beginning

So Sloan Orientation is over.  I've chewed, digested, and passed it.  Good but not great.  It was like drinking soda after eating ice cream.  It is just not as sweet.  Compared to the start of summer with the orientation we got in LFM, Sloan orientation was bland.  I'm sure the Sloan students think it was fantastic...but they are drinking soda for the first time and we (LFM) are still savoring our ice cream.

Not to imply that the week did not have some good moments.  Some of the events (like our first case study or Question and Answer sessions) was bland because we already did it in LFM.  The Warren center was fun.  The day started early in the morning and for our team it was a bit hectic.  One of our team members did not arrive and was not answering his phone.  My team includes Chris, Amanda, Jun, Marcelo, and Sushmita and our pilot is Kumar (he took all the pictures).  Marcelo could not make it and we were forced to continue on without him.  All in all I have a fantastic team.  I've heard some horror stories but I think my team has and will continue to gel.

[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Pacific Penguins (minus one)"][/caption]

So we started the day at the Warren center with some mind games.

[caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Touch the numbers"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_103" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="The island game (two blind, two mute, one leader, and the ground is lava...go)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_102" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The blind leading the blind"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Tossing a ball into a cup...had I listened to the instructions I would have known we only needed to get ONE ball in the cup...not all three...I am the weakest link"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_105" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The ground is lava"][/caption]

After lunch we built lake-worthy rafts

[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Cast away? Can we make it?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_107" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Tight ropes make for strong boats...I am no longer the weakest link!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_108" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Cast away? We would make it.  First to launch, first to return, and our boat was used by three other teams!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_109" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Not all teams were as successful as the Pacific Penguins...don't worry, we lent them our boat."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_110" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Penguins don't need to swim"][/caption]

We finished up the day at a climbing ladder

[caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="Where were you when they built that ladder to heaven (South Park...look it up)?"][/caption]

Overall, a good day.

[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Pacific Penguins - Marcelo + Pilot"][/caption]

The final day included the beer game.  The LFM group played this game during the summer so I did not attend, but I heard they had as much fun as we did.  It is always hilarious in interesting to observe how everyone makes the same mistakes in that game.

The week finished up with a nice mixer and school starts on Tuesday with registration.  Should be great!