Malcolm GauldA new school year means it’s time for… Introductions!
This timeless Hyde tradition calls upon each and every student and faculty member to step to the front of the stage and loudly proclaim five simple pieces of identification: 1) Name… 2) Age… 3) Hometown… 4) Class (i.e., sophomore, junior, etc.)… and 5) How long one has been at Hyde.
Why do we do it? Lots of reasons, but let’s just say that Kris Kristofferson could have been referring to “Intros” in his classic song “To Beat the Devil” when the old man in the bar says to the aspiring singer/songwriter, “Come up here boy, and show us what you are.” We ask each boy, each girl, each man, and each woman to do the same.
No one escapes. I mean, I was on our Woodstock campus to take some photos of the proceedings and they wouldn’t let that happen before I stepped up and did mine. Oh well, fair’s fair.
No one slides, not even the most wily veteran…
Once we get rolling, some just stare straight ahead and get the job done…
Some smile their way through the whole affair…
Some appear deep in thought…
Some use hand gestures…
Actually, many do…
At some point, everyone waits in the on-deck circle…
And the crowd listens with varying degrees of attentiveness. (But nobody laughs, maybe because everyone risks vulnerability?)…
Rookie faculty members get that first taste of speaking in front of a group…
And alumni faculty members have done it so many times that they seem to be able to do it in their sleep…
Sometimes we even go second-generational…
(That’s Ian Cooke ’19 – son of Ken and Lori Cooke ’81.)
I always tell first-timers to cover their bets: “Be a bit too loud and a bit too slow and you’ll be fine.” Otherwise, you might expect to get that friendly nudge from the Dean that says, “Come again?”
Onward, Malcolm Gauld
