Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Day Twenty

For the most part today went like yesterday: homework and tv. But this evening was the welcome dinner for my program. 

That was just amazing. They decked out the third floor lounge and brought in catering. Because of the unreliable traffic in Atlanta I got there half an hour early, and it's a good thing I did: less than fifteen minutes later it started raining. Amanda was also there early, so we chatted until the photographer arrived: part of the event was "free" professional head shots. I don't have them yet (obviously) but here's a selfie:

By the time Amanda and I had finished our photos others had arrived, and I managed to be social until the event started. :) The catering staff came around with appetizers while we talked. That was new for me, I'd never been to a party that fancy before. 

The event started late: the pouring rain stranded a bunch of people at the train station a couple blocks away. A couple of the students gathered up a collection of umbrellas and went and rescued them. The guest list included: this year's students, last year's three students, the faculty (ie: all our professors and the support staff), and a couple other guests of honor (for lack of a better phrase).


Dinner was nice, but my dairy-less entree was not nearly as nice as everyone else's. :/ My chocolate-cherry brownie/fudge thing was way better than their fruit custards though. ;)

There were a few speakers throughout the evening. Starting with the dean of the college. That's right the dean of the entire college of business came to our welcome dinner. ;) We also heard from the men that designed our research lab (which is the best in the country), and one of last year's students (they graduate at the end of the semester). And I forget the guy's name (David-something), but he's like the head analyst for the company that owns holiday inn, so we got to hear from someone who actually works in the field we're going into. That was pretty great. 

It was still raining at nine when the event ended. It looked really pretty. Here's some pics:




And that's it. Goodnight all!

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