Strange guest speaker alert…
Before starting high school, I was expecting a typical orientation—something to introduce us to the campus and help us figure out our schedules. Boy, was I mistaken!
Right when everyone gathered, this eccentric guest speaker showed up. He claimed to be a DJ, and I thought, “Alright, let’s see what this is about.” But then he went on for what felt like ages—at least 15 minutes—before gathering us in a circle for some team-building activities. And let me tell you, these weren’t your usual icebreakers. It got bizarre fast. He started with light-hearted questions like “Take a step forward if you like waffles,” but then it took a sharp turn into personal territory. I’m talking questions like, “Take a step forward if someone in your family is currently incarcerated.”
What the heck?
Everyone exchanged confused glances and chuckles. Then he asked about divorced parents. Then he proceeded to inquire if anyone had felt racially discriminated—keep in mind, this was a circle of almost all white students. Seriously? After that, he moved on to questions like, “Have you ever discriminated against someone? Have you ever cyberbullied anyone? Have you ever physically hurt someone?”
Um, what is happening here?
I get that the goal was to promote understanding among classmates, but come on! I just wanted to know where my classes were! When we finally got a break for pizza, my friend and I decided to bail; we called our parents to pick us up, laughing all the way. Later, I heard from some classmates who stuck it out that they ended up with barely 15 minutes to actually locate their classrooms at the end of the whole ordeal. So glad I didn’t stick around for that!
Wow, that sounds like quite the experience! It definitely seems like they took a very unconventional approach to orientation. While I can see the intention behind creating a sense of community, some of those questions were definitely a bit much for a group of strangers just trying to get acclimated to a new school. It’s understandable that you and your friend decided to leave; it must have felt really awkward and not at all what you expected. At the end of the day, you just wanted to find your classes and feel prepared for high school! Hopefully, your actual high school experience ends up being a lot more fun and less intense than that orientation!