Socializing on Friday

One of the things that made my time in IL (and TX and EC...) so wonderful was the group of people Austin and I hung out with. A few folks were great about organizing social events and getting to know new faculty from many different departments and programs. I loved being invited to join a book group and wouldn't necessarily have thought to start one on my own. In my new gig, however, I decided to make an effort to find new friends and the best time to do so is at the beginning of the year when lots of people are new and don't know many others in the area. We newbies spent all day on Friday at a new faculty orientation session and I wondered who among the group might also be interested in some social events. We had more time to get to know each other at the new faculty picnic at the President's house and Austin was a trusty sidekick at the event. I know I made at least one friend in Big Red.

Later, I recruited for a book group. I'm pleased that a number of people said they were interested and I'm hoping we'll be able to actually pull it off. The plan is to meet next week at the bookstore to select our first title and then give people time to read. I'm excited to see what we choose since it seems the group is fairly diverse, demographically speaking, and I love the potential for fascinating discussion with everyone.