Lesley GEXTH Orientation

And so the adventure begins. After a busy summer and many hiccups along the way, the paperwork got done in time and I was all set to go. Then I found out I had to be in New Hampshire for the Graduate Student Expressive Therapies Orientation for a week in August. After a 12 hour drive, seeing New York, Vermont and finally New Hampshire, I arrived at Sargent Centre ready for orientation.

There are 120 (give or take a few) students entering the program this year. All modalities were at orientation including the intermodal students and then of course faculty. *For those of you who are wondering what I mean by modalities they are dance, music, art and drama*. Sargent Centre is a huge camp that is in the middle of nowhere that is used for team building activities by companies, schools etc. It was much like summer camp would be I imagine. Sleeping in cabins, eating in a cafeteria, beach to go swimming and so forth.

After getting settled into our cabins and meeting our roommates we were called to the field by a drum. The days generally consisted of breakfast, community warm up in the field, core groups (where we met with the people in our modalities and spent time getting to know each other), lunch, workshops, free time, dinner and finally more workshops or community building activities. The week was a full one and by the second day we were all looking at each other thinking our brains had taken in as much as they could.

They gave a huge selection for workshops that were offered by core and guest faculty. I took part in a narrative workshop in which we worked with Dr. Seuss' "Oh! The Places You Will Go" and then another one that was focused on self-care and meditation. Everyone in the group has their own amazing story of how they found expressive therapies and it is one talented group of people! We had an open mic night our last night and it was unforgettable.

I was the only Canadian in the group, however the group consists of people from all over the world. One of the things that was the most refreshing of the experience was not having to explain what you meant by dance therapy or expressive therapy. Don't get me wrong, it's great when people don't know and you get a chance to spread the word but it was a nice change to talk to someone and not have to explain yourself.

After the week it was another 12 hour drive back home to pack up and say my goodbyes before making the move to Somerville, MA!