Playing for Keeps in College

"Going to college can just be an extension of a high or low powered high school experience, or it can be the opportunity to try new things.  Games invite players to take risks, face fears, but still have control.  Combining the discomfort of different with the relevancy of real scenarios through the medium of game playing lets everyone be a winner." (Genevieve Griffin, 9/11/15)

I was greatly inspired by what I read in Frank Bruni's Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be,

"But too many kids get to college and try to collapse it, to make it as comfortable and recognizable as possible.  They replicate the friends and friendships they've previously enjoyed.  They join groups that perpetuate their high school cliques.  Concerned with establishing a "network," they seek out peers with aspirations identical to their own. In doing so, they frequently default to a clannishness that too easily becomes a lifelong habit...

Now more than ever, college needs to be an expansive adventure, propelling students toward unplumbed territory and untested identities rather than indulging and flattering who they already are." (p.112-113)

What am I looking to gain from this first event?  It will be the FIRST event, and I am ready to play.  I wonder if my assumptions are true.  Actually, I know they are true.  I know this because when I listen to high school students and then, college students, I see the choices and listen to people talk about trying things, getting frustrated when the other people do not react the way they want, getting happy when they seem to get it right.  Figuring out how to work through uncomfortable situations brought about by living with other people in close confines provides a lot of learning.  Negotiating successfully through something that looks as simple as a differences in bedtime and wake up time can give a person a sense of confidence and calm that pays off hugely in other areas of their lives.  Sure, a student may be able to say they can do well on a test or write a great essay, but can they apply that to an actual life challenge?

So, I am laboring on the Event Brite invitation.  Soon, it will be finished and out.  My FIRST event will happen.

Are you coming?