The Kroll Report- Orientation

Let me first start off by saying that the “Kroll Report” is far less official than it seems. However, as a new addition to the Kohawk  tennis family, and as a new contributor to the blog, I will do my best to give an inside scoop to various things around campus, Cedar Rapids, the racket center, or anything interesting about my time here at Coe.

            My name is Mark Kroll and I am a freshman this year at Coe. I am a Colorado native and miss the mountains and thin, dry air of my hometown desperately. I plan to minor in Secondary Education and major in whatever is endorsed by the Teacher Education program. If I could have it my way, I would tell you that I was double majoring in Communication Studies/Physical Education while minoring in Secondary Education, but we will just have to see how that all plays out.

            As for tennis, my history is fairly short. I played 1 singles at my high school all four years and qualified for state my junior year. I played USTA tournaments when I could and have never been under any sort of private coaching.

            In high school my primary focus was(were) the clubs and organizations I chose to involve myself with. I was a member of student government and was the Editor-In-Chief of my high school newspaper (which just won an All-Colorado award, the top award a high school publication can receive!).

            Now that you know what I do and/or did, I guess, I want to shed some light on the whole freshman orientation experience.

            Thanks to the Academic Achievement Program I moved in a day earlier than the rest of the first-year students, and was able to fit everything I had brought from home. I squeezed and smashed my life from Colorado into my mom’s car and a couple days later found myself lying in my new bed, which had been suspended in the air by 6” C-Clamps and chains. I cannot tell you how I’ll ever get used to swinging straight into the wall every time I get into bed. But hey, it’s college, right?

            The week was full of amazing activities and forced ice breakers, including Never Have I Ever (clean version) in the front yard of Armstrong/Douglas during floor meetings, Dragon Boat Races, and riveting and inspirational speakers every night.

            It was like what every kid dreams summer camp will be like, and for a kid that never went to summer camp, it was everything I had expected and way more. I honestly can’t imagine a more welcoming orientation week. It was perfect for making new friends, and delaying homesickness for a while at least.

            Today was the second day of classes and the general consensus for the freshman around campus is that orientation ended much too quickly! On the first night of classes I had a couple hours of homework, but I’m staying positive, and hoping that somehow, someday, I’ll feel as comfortable in the classroom, as I do in Cedar Rapids and my new home.