In the beginning . . .

I was to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 8:00 a.m. a couple of weeks ago to begin my new job.----But what---- No Desks? No Chairs? ---I saw only three other wide-eyed women peering through the bare window of the "office".

These ladies are my teammates. They are the ones I will toil with in good times or in bad; in sickness and in health; till grant objectives completed do we part.

As our positions were newly created and funded by a grant, our furniture was yet to be delivered and put together. What better way to get to know someone (and each others breaking point) than to put together desks and chairs? --The group made up entirely of females!! Now that may sound a little stereotypical, but you should have seen us using power tools AND reading diagrams!!

Needless to say there were times when we put parts of our desks backwards; times where we had to do and undo what we'd done numerous times---but we persevered.

It was amazing how well we got along. No one shouted at each other or called each other names. The best part was no fingers were accidentally power-screwed to a desk!

This was a great team-building experience. In a sense we were doing what we'll ask our faculty to do:

1. Collaborate
2. Don't be afraid to try new things
3. Never fear technology (yah power tools!!)
4. Learner-centered environments do work
5. If at first you don't succeed---try, try again.

By the way--those desks and chairs look great!! Oprah, if you're reading this, perhaps Nate could give us a tip or two on enhancing our environment as we'll be busy aiding others into enhancing their curriculums with technology.

As a side note: Our Administrative Assistant, Cathy turned out to be quite the "Ty-ra" Pennington!