Serendipity ?

A couple of weekends ago, we hosted over 1,000 potential students and their families for “Fall Preview Day”. These are students contemplating university for fall 2007. As usual, the visitors are herded into the main gymnasium for an official welcome and to be given instruction about the day’s activities and events.

It is difficult to know what to say in a 3-5 minute welcome that captures the essence of Guelph when there are so many good stories. Of course, I want people to know about the place and its successes but I also want the students and the families to appreciate something about the special atmosphere at Guelph. I want them to know about the ways in which we make a difference in teaching, research and service. I want prospective students to know that if they come here, it is likely that their lives will be changed by the people at Guelph and the special atmosphere here.

After my presentation, two students (one from Engineering and one from Arts and Science) spoke of their experiences at Guelph. To anyone in the audience, it would have appeared that our talks were coordinated. Both students spoke from the heart about the ways that Guelph had made a difference in their lives and pressed home the message that if the prospective students care about people and the physical and cultural environment in which they live, they should come to Guelph. In different ways, they each provided an account of the impact of coming to Guelph on their lives and on their life.

Serendipity? I think not.