Welcome to the Online Daily Journal, especially to those who are new to LSM’s daily blog! Students, this is your warning to behave, because although you might “forget” to call your parents and guardians, the ODJ will keep them plenty informed of your activities! Hopefully we can share some insight into what goes on during these four intensive weeks. Photos will accompany the following entries and be housed on Flickr, so bookmark this site and check back daily! See today’s accompanying photos.
At last, the day that many of us have been waiting for since June 23, 2006–the last day of LSM 2006–has arrived! It’s time for students, faculty, staff, counselors, and accompanying family and friends to convene for yet another summer of music, friendship and fun. But this summer is extra special as Lutheran Summer Music celebrates its 25th anniversary! As Beth Burns, the executive director, stated at Opening Assembly this evening, we are all excited to include this wonderful and talented group of students in our special celebration.
The morning started bright and quite early for some of our counselors. A few of them left the Gustavus Adolphus College campus at 6 AM en route to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, they met almost 40 students flying from all over the country and even as far away as Japan. The counselors, donning this summer’s official kelly green t-shirts and welcome signs, were a hard bunch to miss.
Back at Gustavus, faculty were preparing for instrumental and vocal auditions to place students in the band, choir, and orchestra ensembles. Staff were making last-minute touches at the registration area and all over campus, ready to welcome and point arrivals in the right directions. Day One can overwhelm students new to LSM–new faces and new names to remember; places to be; times to remember; choices to make (do I want to sign up for secondary lessons? should I move into my room first or get my auditions over with?). You can easily spot the seasoned LSM veterans though; they are the students who breeze through registration, calmly waltz through the confusing maze that is Schaefer Fine Arts (SFA) Center and into their auditions, and know exactly where Southwest Hall is located.
As registration faded into dinnertime, the cafeteria was already buzzing with tables of new and old students congregated around their food, catching up on the months gone by or listing off the usual get-to-know-you answers to new acquaintances. With the 2007 community finally gathered for the first time in Christ Chapel, Beth also touched upon the inevitable fact that students were sitting among people who would probably become life-long friends, stand partners, and choir buddies. One of this year’s Messerli Scholars helped to start a new tradition by ringing in the official opening of this summer’s Academy.
After introductions of faculty, staff, and counselors, the guardians and friends of students were dismissed. Counselors then met with their floor groups to help students get to know one another and their way around campus. The long day finally concluded with the first Evening Prayer led by Chaplain Craig. Everyone silently left the chapel afterwards and headed toward dorms and beds, hopefully to receive a good night’s sleep. It’s only day one, and we have 28 days left to explore!
Filed under: 2007, registration
