Brag Fall 2022

By Michelle Wagner
Campion Faculty Assistant & Sessional member
Photos by Kelly Bourke
Helping first-year students get a
HEADSTART
Puzzles, profs, and prizes... this new first-year program has it all!
22
If you had been around campus
August 23 and 24, you could have seen
approximately fifty first-year Campion
students on what may have seemed like
random adventures. For two days, Campion
staff, faculty, and upper-year students
provided a new program called Headstart
for first years to help set them up for success
coming into that crucial introductory year
of university. It included brief lectures on
specialized disciplines at Campion followed
by fun team challenges, which introduced
them to our College, and many of the
amazing people who make it such a thriving
and inviting community.
One morning, they were touring the campus
with Campion Dean, Dr. Tom Phenix,
talking about memory mind palaces. That
afternoon, they took over the Campion
Library, researching and asking questions to
Classics faculty member, Dr. Dwayne Meisner
and Librarian, Elaina Lawn.
Why was there police tape up and a lot
of suspicious-looking red blotches in the
Campion Student Commons the next day?
Well, they were testing their investigation
skills with Psychology faculty member,
Dr. Susan Yamamoto to piece together a
murder mystery. Then finally, after a lecture
from Catholic Studies faculty member Dr.
Scott Lewis, SJ on studying faith through an
academic lense, they were putting their
“mind palace” memory tricks to the test in
an epic Campion Amazing Race around the
campus.
Teams Alpha to Kilo where assigned on day
one so students could meet new people and
work together to have a shot at prizes like
bursaries, Campion clothing, and gift cards.
Day one, there was a lot of uncertainty and
we wondered what the turnout would be for
day two. Turns out, we shouldn’t have worried
because all the students returned and we
even managed to get a couple extra!
On the last day, we drew the name of one
lucky attendee who received a $1,000
Campion bursary but according to the postevent
survey, 100% of the students would
recommend it to next year’s incoming
students which is a great Headstart.
TOP LEFT: $1,000 bursary winner Shamaire Francisco
with President Sami Helewa, SJ
TOP RIGHT: Dean Dr. Tom Phenix taking students
on a campus tour while teaching memory
MIDDLE LEFT: Student assistants ready for day 2
MIDDLE RIGHT: Dr. Dwayne Meisner helping
students with their challenge
BOTTOM LEFT: Getting set for Dr. Yamamoto’s
lecture on Social Psychology
BOTTOM RIGHT: Meanwhile, the student
assistants setting up the “crime scene”