Tuesday, July 22, 2008

TCU orientation session takes incoming freshmen to London

By Pegasus News wire

Frog Camp is a traditional way for incoming Texas Christian University freshmen to get a taste of college life.

For a group of 30 TCU Honors Program participants, the flavor of the Summer turned out to be Yorkshire pudding.

That's because they (along with administrators and faculty, including Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr.) spent the first week in July getting to know each other far from their home turf - all the way across the frog pond in London, England.

While tourism was included in the mix of activities, the experience of the 18-year-olds was carefully constructed to orient them to the rigors of a hectic event schedule, such as they will be encountering during the school semester.

What they won't be encountering on the TCU campus are things such as a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" performed in the actual Globe Theatre, and a visit to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. A stroll across the Beatles' Abbey Road was also part of the itinerary, as constructed by Dr. Ron Pitcock, asst. dir. of the Honors Program which the students will be undertaking starting this Fall.

On the scholastic front, the kids were split into three-person teams charged with delivering short presentations on selected topics which they had to research and then compose before sharing with the group. Small price to pay, really, for a visit to the British Museum. Or Harrod's Department Store, for that matter. (Hopefully Mom & Dad kept their credit cards back in the states.)

posted by JM

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