The OLINformer

There’s been a lot happening at Olin this week! Upon my return from a tiny trip home to Texas, I jumped right back into the thick of things… beginning with our largest information session EVER at Olin!

This is a pic of our welcome board - it doesn’t begin to illustrate how big the group was! But, alas, we forgot to get a picture of the auditorium… oops.

I don’t have an exact headcount but my best guesstimation was about 60 people listened to my “song and dance” in the auditorium that day. Wow… we’ve come a long way since the days of 1-2 families chatting in our lobby!

Next was an Ecumenical Passover Sedar on Tuesday evening. The Sedar was open to the entire Olin community, so it was a really cool mix of people and faiths. For some of us, it was a great (comforting?) way to celebrate Passover when we’re far away from family; for others, it was an opportunity to learn/try something new with a group of friends.

Our Ecumenical Sedar in the East Hall Lounge. Lots of people spent many hours (Bonnie ‘09, Ben ‘10, Karen ‘06 and Professor Lynn Stein to name a few) organizing and COOKING this delicious homemade meal for the Sedar. Photo courtesty of Yifan ‘10

Sadly, some folks had to jet off early to prepare for the next item on the agenda: ExpressO Black. As Ellen and Jessi mentioned in their blogs, it’s an “uncensored” version of our variety show known more commonly known as simply ExpressO (some of you saw a sampling at Candidates’ Weekend). Because of its racier/edgier content, this one’s mainly for the current students but I was dying to check it out! So I hung out with some first-years in the mezzanine to get a birds-eye view. There were a variety of acts – some exactly what I would have expected (bawdy, raunchy, funny) but others were truly clever and amazing displays of talent, including a powerful monologue by Keoni ’07.

Wednesday brought Big Conversations, a day when classes are cancelled and our community takes time to ponder the world beyond the “Olin bubble.” Amy Smith, an inventor and instructor at MIT, was a terrific addition to Olin’s Speaker Series on “What’s Important?” Professor Smith is dedicated to developing technologies that optimize limited resources and solve seemingly intractable problems in developing countries; she and her students are making a difference in the lives of thousands of people all over the world with their inventions.

Amy Smith sharing one of her favorite quotes (and guiding principles of her life) with the Olin community during Big Conversations.

I must admit that it was a pretty amazing and inspirational presentation! Afterward we had several options including a series of short films, continued discussions over lunch (free and sponsored by our Office of Innovation and Research!) and a variety of activities related to appropriate technologies, social entrepreneurship and community service.

So, my eyes are broken and I must stop staring at this computer screen. Thursday and Friday (aka Part 2) will arrive soon…

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/