Tag Archives: International Students Organization

ISO show just around the corner

The International Student Organization (ISO) show is finally almost here, this Friday!… International middkids are getting overly excited by the day, brushing up on rehearsals and ordering those colourful costumes online or from their home country, sending strings of emails to friends and host families. The theme for this year’s show is “Middleburied in the world” wacky but exhilarating– the excitement is spreading across campus like a bush fire in the harmattan.

Unfortunately, I am going to miss the show as I will be away for an interview in Boston on the same day! (Terrible I knw). I tried to reschedule but it didn’t work – it is one of the downside of being a senior– always faced with choices that have high opportunity costs… Anyway, after being up stage shaking my limbs for the past few years, this year I was hoping to be one of the MCs for the show. But now I cannot….I just hope that I get invited in the future, as an alum, to come act as the MC.

The ISO show is not only popular among students but also among faculty, staff, host families and their friends, and townies (short for people who live in the town). I just bumped into one of our dining hall staff this morning who is a big fan of the ISO show, and she is super excited about it. She was excited to tell me that she had already bought her ticket and was looking forward to seeing my moves again this year. But she was dumb founded when she eventually learned that I will not be present for the show…
Hold tight for another update

The dawn of snow! The ISO show and registration…

The dawn of snow! The ISO show! J-term & spring term Registration…! Woops, I couldn’t find a suitable word that rhymes with snow and show 🙂

Just few days ago, we were getting our jackets and winter coats ready, and excited to start building snow men across campus. But today we were taken back to those beautiful summer dayz in Midd. what’s up with you snow? are u coming or not? i wish she could hear me and just respond coz some Middkids are patiently waiting to start skiing it up right away!!

Well for now, registration for classes is upon us again—and as always, that means I am, like many others, spoiled for choices. The dining hall conversations are dominated by discussion on cool classes, tough classes, cool professors and so on…

Registration for spring semester started yesterday and as expected, seniors get to register first, then juniors etc. I happily got the classes I wanted. This is the time when our professors’ offices get invaded by students who need that last minute advising, unsure about what to take. Professors even extend office hrs to accommodate the demand of their students…

Just last week, during the winter term registration, I was thinking abt registering for a class called “world of Winston Churchill,” really. Yep, the description of the class captured my interest… I wanted to learn more about how one man (Churchill) was instrumental in designing the political landscape of Post-WWII Europe and the contemporary Middle East. Who knows? I might steal and reform his idea and end up one day redrawing the (political) map of Africa :). hmm that sounds like an imposing dictator huh?

Oh lest i forget, one of the interesting aspects about the registration process for the winter term is that seniors are the last to register for classes. It makes sense coz first year students are required to spend their first winter term in Middlebury and so registration priority is given to them…In fact most juniors and especially seniors end up i) taking a break in the winter just to relax or travel around the world ii) doing an internship (or independent research) iii) working on a thesis / independent project, as in my case…the list is long.

Anyway, I’ve now decided to just stick to the conventional approach for thesis writers—only work on my thesis in the winter term which is what is expected—a three-term long (fall, winter & spring) thesis, and then have some fun doing other extra-curricular stuffs rather taking a class. I could also audit the class if i choose to…

But I am a thinking about trying out cricket for the first time this winter, hoping to count it as a PE credit… I am trying to talk my Pakistani friend into teaching it as part of the winter term activities…we’ll see if I’ll be able to handle that “bat”, or is it called a “racket”? Sorry, but cricket is pretty much a foreign sport in the part of the world I come from (West Africa) 🙂

k my break is up! back to using these few mins to wrap up my problem set for tomorrow. The post on ISO show is coming up in the morning… are u wondering what ISO means? hold up there. see you in a few!