Welcome to Academe

Gangs of hormonally charged first years roving through downtown streets; a campus simmering under the late summer sun; lineups stretching through new, nameless hallways full of students seeking an identity; campus pubs overflowing with students of all ages and drafts of all kinds. This is Carleton in the first week of September, though I now realize it applies to almost every other Canadian university as well (with the possible exception of Queen's, those prudes...).

Having spent a year away from campus life, I feel like I can see these things more easily than I could as an undergraduate (and not just because I'm drinking less). The first years whom I thought were only a handful of years younger than me now appear as kids in a candy store. With faces young enough to get carded at the entrance to a PG-13 film, are they really old enough to tackle what lies ahead?

I suppose they are, for it's all a part of the experience. We come in as kids and leave as young adults, then return later to laugh at how old and sophisticated we thought we were back then. I'm feeling rather aged at the moment, but having a lot of fun watching from the sidelines at the same time.

The incoming class of 75 NPSIA students appears to be a diverse and outgoing one. Conversations at last night's NPSIA Pub Night at the graduate pub, Mike's Place, ranged from the eccentricities of Napoleon Dynamite to the Pakistani occupation of Bangladesh and the Quebec seperatist movement. Most have spent time overseas - South Korea, Honduras, Namibia, and China are those that come to mind immediately - and all are passionate about pursuing an international career. I think it's going to be an interesting and - by the looks of the readings we've been assigned for our first week of classes - intense 18 months.