Ski trip weekend

The Admissions Committee just concluded its first winter meeting of the year.  We’ll meet weekly from now through the beginning of March, with meetings running progressively longer and covering more applications.  For today, a relatively short discussion, fueled by coffee and pastries.

After the meeting we sent our student readers out for an exciting weekend of skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine (or, perhaps, a quiet weekend in town with most classmates away in Maine).  The ski trip is a monumental undertaking, involving hundreds of students, spouses, and even children.  Many of the skiers (or snowboarders) will never have hit the slopes before.  Some of them will never have been in such a cold and snowy place before.  The lead-up to the trip involves several organizational meetings, featuring PowerPoint presentations that emphasize the cold and suggest wearing “hat, goggles, neck-warmer (or scarf), long-underwear (layers!), mittens, another warm layer (fleece jacket/wool sweater, etc), warm socks (NOT COTTON), water-proof/wind-resistant outer layer jacket and pants.”

Cold or not, everyone always reports having a great time.  The organizers of the first trip, not even ten years ago, could hardly have imagined what a community-building institution in would become.