Nathan Xavier
May 22, 2015 7:45 PM
First Year Orientation by Nathan Xavier
The school was trying something a little different this year. The flying covered wagons that brought the students to Sonora were arriving at each of the standard magical transportation centers around the country a few hours earlier. The pick-up schedule that was sent out with acceptance letters and supply lists had reflected this change in large letters and red ink so it would not be easily missed.So instead of arriving at Sonora just in time for the Opening Feast, they were instead landing on school grounds in the middle of the afternoon. This timing change was implemented to accommodate a new Orientation Program for the incoming first years.
So as student disembarked from each wagon in the Labyrinth Gardens, Nathan Xavier, the school's groundskeeper, was there to offer guidance on the new process.
"Welcome, welcome back, leave your luggage on the wagon, the elves will relocate your belongings to your rooms for you." In fact, even as he spoke there was the popping sounds of elf magic vanishing away the suitcases, trunks, and sundry other items packed into the wagon's storage cubbies. For the older students, the items would be beside their bunks before they even reached the school building. For the new first years, their things would be placed in a temporary storage room until the children were sorted, then delivered to their appropriate room during the Feast.
"New students, please head over there," he pointed out a large clearing around a circular water fountain where two buffet tables had been set up with many varieties of snack foods and drinks. A banner hung over the tables clearly identifying the purpose of the event, *First Year Orientation - Welcome to Sonora Academy!*
"We will begin a brief orientataion program as soon as all the wagons have arrived. Please mingle amongst yourselves and enjoy the refreshments in the meantime."
Once the new first years had departed, he turned back to the older students remaining. "Returning students, you may either get settled in your rooms for a few hours or socialize in the Cascade Hall until the Feast begins. There will be some pre-Feast snacks available there, too, if you get hungry. Please find your Head of House or a prefect to get your password." At least one from each House should be about the wagon landing zone for that purpose, himself included.
After all the wagons had unloaded and he gave the password to the final lingering older Teppenpaws who requested it, Nathan headed over to where the new first years had gathered.
He cleared his throat, cast a Sonoras charm on himself make himself more easily heard in the open space, and began.
"Your attention please. May I have your attention?" He repeated that as necessary until he felt he had achieved his goal. "Thank you. First of all, on behalf of all the staff," he nodded to the several who had stuck around to help him chaperone, "I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all of here at Sonora Academy."
"My name is Nathan Xavier, the school's Groundskeeper. I'm going to start with a quick overview of what you can expect here, then we'll break for a mixer so you can get to know some of your fellow yearmates and continue enjoying the food our Prairie Elves have prepared for you. Then we'll finish off the orientation program with a tour that will deliver you to the Cascade Hall, our dining hall, where we will then commence the Opening Feast and your Sorting."
He paused a moment to let them digest the itinerary, then launched into his 'brief overview' - which, admittedly, was not especially brief.
"Sonora is a seven year magical boarding school. You'll be learning five core magical subjects here including Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. For your first two years, you will take those five classes at beginner level. Beginner classes combine both the first and second year students, so as first years, you can work with students who were as new to this a year ago as you are now and see how far you can advance in just a year.
"In third year, you'll begin Intermediate Classes in the five core subjects, and be given the option to take whichever electives are being offered at that time. If you would like to study an elective class that is not offered, please speak to your Head of House - I'll get to those in a minute - and they can help you set up an independent study program. Intermediate classes combine the students in their third, fourth, and fifth years.
"At the end of fifth year, you will take what is called a CATS test. That's a Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills. It's a standardized tests most American magical schools administer at that time. Your CATS scores will help determine which courses you are allowed to continue into the Advanced classes as many require a minimum test result to continue in that subject.
"In sixth year, you will begin your advanced studies, and you may drop the subjects you no longer wish to take, though you must keep at least two. Advanced classes combine the two oldest years in the school, the sixth and seventh years. At the end of Seventh year, you will take another standardized test called the RATS - the Ridiculously Anal Testing of Skills - which, as the name implies, will be the most difficult test you will ever take in your entire life. Rest assured though, it has not yet proven fatal, so you should all survive it. Your results will, however, largely determine which college, university, apprenticeship, or entry level job you can get when you leave here, so do take them seriously."
"All right, that's academics. For general residential life, food is available in the Cascade Hall. There are specific times when breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served, but sandwiches, fruit, and snacks are available anytime between five am and curfew at ten pm. You may also request food from one of the elves. We have Prairie Elves working here at Sonora, which are a close cousin to the House Elves some of you may be familiar with. They handle the cooking in the kitchens, the cleaning inside the school, and help me with grounds maintence. They can be excitable but are generally very helpful to have around."
"Sonora has four Houses and each student will belong to one of them. Your House will be like your family here. You may earn points for your house during class and for exceptional behavior as well as some other activities. The House that accumulates the most points during the year will win the House Cup, which is a trophy displayed in the common room of whichever House won it last.
"The Four Houses are Aladren, Teppenpaw, Crotalus, and Pecari. There are a number of factors that go into determining which House you get sorted into, but to put matters into simplest terms, Aladren students are generally the ones who most enjoy learning, Teppenpaw students are generally social people, Crotalus students tend to be responsible, and Pecari students often like to try new things. There will, of course, be exceptions, so don't be too concerned if you get put in a House and don't believe you fit that single quality. And do try to remember there are smart people outside of Aladren and friendly people outside of Teppenpaw. No House has a total monopoly on their characteristics. You'll be living with each other for seven years. Get to know one another; don't just make snap judgements based on your classmate's House Badge."
Nathan took a deep breath, "Almost done, I promise. Extracurrularly, Sonora offers a variety of clubs. Keep an eye out for announcements on your House bulletins. Any student is welcome to create their own club as well if one does not already exist for your interest, you just need to find a staff advisor and a place to meet. Each House also has a Quidditch team, which is a wizarding sport played on flying broomsticks for those of you who don't know. First years are very welcome to join, so don't hesitate to sign up when the sheets go up. We're not a big school, so every House has openings this year." Aladren and Pecari had both graduated players last year, and Teppenpaw and Crotalus needed every body they could put on a broom if they hoped to have separate teams this year.
Nathan rubbed his hands together, "Okay, I think that was everything I wanted to cover. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me or one of the other staff here to help you. Now go mingle with each other, make friends, collect a map and the class schedule from the table over there, and I'll get your attention again when it's time for the tour and the Feast."
OOC (Out of Character):
Welcome first years to Sonora! You can post a reply here to ask staff questions or meet your new classmates. This thread is intended for first year students to have a chance to try out posting and get a hang of the site before we throw you into the big Opening Feast next week, which is open to the entire school population and can be a bit overwhelming. So post, enjoy, have fun! Everyone is here to happy to help out, so if you've got a question, put it on the OOC or try to catch somebody in the Chatzy and we'll try to get you an answer as quick as we can.
Subthreads: The Orientation by Seven Grayscale with Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
Curiouser and curiouser. by Laila Kennedy with Dustin Newell
An unfamiliar social situation by Louis Valois with Arne Reinhardt
Isn't this exciting? by Emilia-Louise Scott with Micah Breckinridge
It only goes downhill from here. by Wu Peizhi with Kira Spaulding
Unsolicited pressure. by Abigail De La Garza
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First Year Orientation
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Wu Peizhi
May 26, 2015 10:17 PM
It only goes downhill from here. by Wu Peizhi
The first and only thought streaking across Peizhi’s mind was simple: I can’t do this. Of course, it was raw and untranslated, flavored with a home she had to leave behind in favor of this new foreign land. (How anyone could ever reach the point of thinking in a language except one’s native tongue was simply beyond her comprehension.) She was already homesick for China, for her elder brothers and her parents. For normalcy. Something.Being stuck with other people definitely would not quiet her storms. She was certain to always hang near the back of the crowd to ensure she would never be completely surrounded, as well as guarantee no one was staring at her. Peizhi was a very nervous young girl who desperately wanted to blend in and pretend she did not exist, but mismatching her almost entirely Caucasian year-group automatically singled her out as different. And if it wasn’t obvious enough, she knew the moment she spoke--if she spoke, of course, as the possibility of lengthy silence was entirely possible with her--her accented English would give her away; no matter how good she had gotten at the language, there were still obvious imperfections.
Usually Peizhi was a wonderful listener, but she found it difficult to pay attention to Mr. Xavier’s speech. Through no fault of his own, of course; Mr. Xavier seemed to be a lovely man, but she was consumed by these anxious thoughts. She had never even wanted to come to America, but given her half-sister’s involvement with an American pureblood, her father sent her to Sonora essentially to scope out their contemporaries. Of her siblings, Peizhi felt she was probably the worst possible choice, but given Bohai was an adult and Huojin was well through his education elsewhere. And according to her mother, she had also had the most luck learning English, a fact Peizhi so prided herself on. The silent one knew how to speak. The irony was palpable.
And speaking of speaking--the irony continued--Mr. Xavier was now done at last. Unfortunately, one of Peizhi’s peers chose to speak to her. It was no fault of their own, but the sudden new interaction jarred her enough to produce a tiny jump. The constriction of her muscles took away all her attention, so she missed just what the person said. As she composed herself, her shrinking posture making her appear even smaller than she was, she quietly and deliberately said, “I am very sorry, what did you say?”
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It only goes downhill from here.
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Kira Spaulding
May 27, 2015 6:14 AM
That's what I expect too. by Kira Spaulding
Kira couldn't help but be really anxious about attending Sonora. Yes, she very much wanted to learn to control her magic but there was the social aspect too. What if she didn't make any friends? What if everyone was mean and snobby? Or if they weren't from a good family? If she befriended the wrong people, she'd come out comparing negatively to Kelsey again . It seemed to Kira that her cousin never did anything wrong and nothing she did ever measured up.And the idea of not having any friends, of being a social outcast did not thrill her. That would disappoint her family too. Plus, she'd be so lonely. Even though she had lots of cousins, Kira didn't necessarily want to only spend time with them. People would think she was pathetic and laugh at her. Besides, she had to admit that Kelsey drove her a bit crazy. She was so irritatingly blasted perfect that just being around her made Kira feel awful about herself.
Her cousin Fabian, who was starting this year with her, was a bit better, but he'd surely make lots of his own friends. Friends who might not want her around or that would be more interested in the same things Fabian was. Things that made one messy and dirty, things that Kira absolutely could not allow herself to be as a young lady even if these had been things that she personally enjoyed doing, and honestly, they really weren't.
She tried to listen to Mr. Xavier's speech, knowing it was what she was supposed to do. Pay attention to whatever any staff member said, it was what was polite and respectful. It was what she was pretty sure that Kelsey would do and so that had to mean it was the appropriate thing to do right? Kira didn't want to do anything wrong. Besides, she genuinely did want to know anything important that she needed to know about Sonora, in part to lesson the chances of screwing up later. The thing was though that Mr. Xavier's speech didn't...actually tell her anything she didn't already know. Kira had a brother and cousins here and cousins who'd graduated. Oh and her aunt and uncle used to work here and another cousin was the Headmaster. So she was pretty well versed on Sonora basics. In fact, given that Fabian knew pretty much everything she did, Kira would bet anything her cousin wasn't even listening. Or she would if gambling was at all an appropriate activity for an eleven- almost twelve, her birthday was tomorrow- year old pureblood girl from a proper family.
Still, she had to admit, the orientation wasn't a terrible idea. She didn't love socializing, based on the fact that she felt her every move being scrutinized and judged, and oh yeah, compared unfavorably to Kelsey, but on the plus side, well, given Mr. Xavier's comment about not judging anyone by their house badge, it was a chance to do that.
Now that Mr. Xavier had stopped talking, Kira did not quite know what to do with herself. She spotted Fabian going straight for the food, but did not follow him. Honestly, she wasn't all that hungry. She was a bit too worried about whether or not she'd end up making a fool of herself to have much appetite.
That's when Kira noticed the girl next to her, who looked...a bit like she felt. Miserable and scared. "Are you all right?" She said softly, still nervous about approaching but she looked a good deal less intimidating than most of the others and Kira needed a friend. She didn't want to be alone at Sonora, an outcast. Of course, this other girl could turn out to be a Muggleborn nervous about the magical world and then befriending her would be one of those mistakes that Kira made and Kelsey never did. Still, at the very least she could show the Asian girl compassion and kindness. It was the very least she'd want for herself right now.
The girl seemed to jump and she felt bad. Kira hadn't meant to startle her. "I-I asked if you were okay." She repeated. "I'm Kira Spaulding, of the Colorado Spauldings." She gave a self-conscious curtsy towards her yearmate. Her curtsies were just another thing that were never as smooth or flawless as her cousin's. She was rather worried the other girl would laugh at her for it, either because it wasn't good enough, or because the Asian girl wasn't from the sort of family who did those things.
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Kira Spaulding
That's what I expect too.
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Wu Peizhi
May 29, 2015 9:13 PM
I'm glad we're in agreement. by Wu Peizhi
So far, so bad. Already, Peizhi was not presenting well. As if not hearing the girl’s initial question wasn’t bad enough, the fact that it was an inquiry of condition only furthered this nightmare. Was she all right? Of course not. The way she jumped could have indicated that without a verbal answer. But that would have been rude. This girl deserved a response, and Peizhi knew exactly what to say, no matter how hard it was for her to force out words.“Oh, yes,” she replied, forcing what she could of a smile. “Just a bit…” Peizhi paused, looking for the correct English phrase. “Out of sorts?” It wasn’t meant to be a question, but her lacking conviction for the statement tweaked the inflection. So as if she wasn’t already presenting her insecurities, her tone was now sure to give it away completely. So far, so bad, indeed.
The girl introduced herself as Kira Spaulding “of the Colorado Spauldings”, which was, she had learned in advanced, the way Western Purebloods introduced themselves. Peizhi supposed other Eastern families might have done so as well to provide location indicators, but there was only one branch of the family Wu, with only
“Of China,” she added after a little thought. The cursty
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Wu Peizhi
I'm glad we're in agreement.
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Kira
June 10, 2015 9:37 AM
Agreement is nice by Kira
Kira nodded. "It can be difficult to adjust." She replied softly. It was nice to feel that she wasn't alone, that she wasn't the only one unsure of things. Not that she wanted others to feel bad but still, it did make her seem overall less intimidating then someone who was extremely social and sure of themselves who wouldn't understand how difficult things were for someone less so. Kelsey didn't understand and neither did Tristan. Granted, they-especially Kelsey-were selective about who they socialized with but that didn't make them unsociable just because they didn't especially have any interest in being friends with Muggleborns.It also would have been unbundantly clear to Kira that Miss Wu was not from America even if she hadn't explicitly stated that she was "of China" by how she said her name. Kira didn't know much about Asian cultures beyond things that were food or art related-by which she meant that she could tell when art was Asian looking-and that Chinese parents often had a parenting style similar to Aunt Jillian's-which would make her feel extremely sorry for Miss Wu if that was the case-but Kira knew full well that Americans of any ancestry didn't introduce themselves with their last names first. Quite honestly, she couldn't imagine a custom. She'd always been taught that it was rude to call people by their last names-yes, even Muggleborns if one had to speak to them- because it wasn't respectful and showed poor breeding and reflected poorly on one's family because it meant that they had let themselves go to that level, things Kira quite frankly didn't want to risk. She didn't want people thinking the Spauldings didn't teach their children basic manners.
Besides, to her it was extremely offensive to be called anything but Kira or Miss Spaulding...and she generally preferred her first name. Of course, she was also supposed to address people by a title such as Miss or Mr or Mrs until she was given permission to do otherwise unless the person was a family member-though she'd gotten them impression it was probably best to refer to the headmaster as such even though he was her mother's first cousin.
Either way, she was slightly relieved that Miss Wu's curtsy was as wobbly as her own, though it could have been attributed to cultural differences, while Kira really had no excuse. It should be as easy and natural to her as breathing by this point, the way it was for Kelsey, but it just wasn't. Still, either way, Kira doubted the Chinese girl was judging her or laughing at her, which was a good start.
She fixed Miss Wu with a genuine, albeit shy, smile. "Pleased to meet you. What brings you to America for school?" Kira asked. There were most likely a lot of magical schools in China.
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Agreement is nice
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Wu Peizhi
June 15, 2015 8:46 AM
I'll agree to that, too. by Wu Peizhi
Peizhi recognized immediately how fortunate she had been to have her first conversation with an American be so pleasant (at least, up until this point; until it ended, there was still an opportunity for it to go sour.) Miss Spaulding seemed to be a very sweet young thing, especially since she not only had begun the conversation with concern for Peizhi’s well-being and continued it gently and patiently. She definitely appreciated the girl’s patience with her language difficulties. To translate one’s thoughts before being able to speak slowed conversation considerably, but thus far, Miss Spaulding didn’t seem to mind waiting.Miss Spaulding inquired about motives for her schooling in America, and once more, Peizhi had to pause to search her memory for English words. “My older sister is involved with an American wizard who went here when he was child,” she answered slowly. “Um, a child.” Languages were so difficult sometimes. “My father wanted me to come, ah… Meet the families?” The phrase scope out her peers would have been perhaps the most clear, but Peizhi could not find the words she wanted.
“I am sorry for my, um, bad answers,” she added, her head drooping slightly. Peizhi had very high standards for herself, and thus far, she was failing rather expertly. “My English is… not very good.” Second to not speaking, Peizhi just wanted to go home and speak Chinese again. She longed for her bedroom solitude, silent sparring the whispers she offered to Bohai, her eldest and favorite brother. She felt quite weary, physically from the travel and mentally from both being around people and straining to translate her responses.
And this was only just beginning. She still had to attend a feast with the entire school. That would certainly be trying for her. She intended to speak to no one and eat quietly until they were released, but the presence of the crowd was already making her a bit jittery in anticipation. How many days until midterm, exactly?
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Wu Peizhi
I'll agree to that, too.
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