Classes & Chili Rellenos

Campus is hopping these days. The freshmen arrived Thursday, upperclassmen followed over the weekend, and today is the very first day of classes. Wow. That all happened fast. Orientation is always a bit comic -- in addition to the fun activities, like the Honor Code sign-in, the sponsor skits, and other traditions that will be imparted to you at a future date, how do the first-years spend their second day on campus? Taking placement tests. Oh yes. Good times. They're optional except for the math one, but many students avail themselves of the option -- even though no one, in the history of the college, has actually passed the Special Relativity placement test (because really, who takes that as a class in high school?), there are always a few freshmen brave/crazy enough to try.

Placement tests aside, the first-years seem excited and happy to be here, and their parents have been successfully dispatched home again. It was fun to see how many faces I recognized in the crowd, and Maria (as in Klawe, the college president) got a huge round of applause after demonstrating how many names of incoming students she had memorized over the summer. The admission staff is really, terrifyingly good at that -- and Maria is even better. I was impressed.

The end of summer also means the end of having a full-time intern at our beck and call. We took our tour guide extraordinaire, Nash, out to lunch at Casa del Salsa in Claremont. We've had some wonderful summer interns before, but Nash is the best ever. No exaggeration. I don't know how he stayed energetic touring in 110-degree heat (maybe coming from Texas helps?) but he was a blast to work with all summer long -- good-humored even when his assignment was folding 300 photocopied maps of Claremont or fetching boxes from the basement. Nash, we'll miss you! Come back and hang out, okay? You won't have to fold any maps, I promise.

Peter, Hannah, Falone, Nash, and Raissa availing themselves of the buffet. College students + buffet = perfect happiness.