At Columbia’s New Student Convocation, President Shantay Bolton addressed the campus community and first-year and transfer students were given the opportunity to learn about campus organizations and resources.

Transcript:

0:08: Welcome back to The Chronicle Conversations. 

0:10: I’m your host, Aaron Guzman. 

0:13: On Friday, August 29, the college hosted New Student Connections events across all programs to help first-year and transfer students prepare for the academic year. 

0:23: Following connections, the college held convocation at the Student Center. 

0:36: Convocation began with speeches from administrators and student leaders on a stage in the Student Center parking lot. 

0:42: Columbia’s president, Shantay Bolton, who began her position at the college on July 1, addressed the crowd of students, faculty, staff and guests. 

0:52: In her speech, Bolton stressed the importance of Columbia’s creative and diverse community. 

0:57: You will grow. You will grow into creative, courageous and critically minded people the world desperately needs right now. 

1:08: Columbia will challenge you to think deeply, to create boldly and to engage fully, not just in the fields of study, but in the communities and cultures you will shape beyond these walls of our institution, and here’s the truth – it won’t be easy and you will stumble. Matter of fact, you will fail, you will wrestle with doubt, but failure is not the opposite of success. 

1:35: The speeches were followed by performances from student musicians. 

1:38: Attendees then had the opportunity to visit tables operated by different student organizations and campus offices. 

1:45: First-year students who attended the event shared their excitement for the incoming fall semester and shared their first experiences in Chicago. 

1:53: I’ve mostly just been walking around and exploring since I’ve been here. 

1:58: I was here for the summer program last year and I did the film class there and I learned a lot about, just, the way that the scene operates here and how so many people will go to a school like Columbia or DePaul or any of the city schools and will, like, they can just directly go to be a PA on “Chicago P.D.” or “Chicago Fire” or, like, “Chicago Med,” and it’s, so that’s really cool. 

2:24: I’ve noticed that a lot about the city is the film industry is very active and very, like, fluid, so that’s really interesting. 

2:30: I’m feeling really good. 

2:31: I have my first class is a journalism class, and I’m really interested in journalism, so I think I’m gonna declare my minor for it, so I’m really excited for that. 

2:40: Classes at Columbia begin on Tuesday, September 2. 

2:44: That’s all for this week. 

2:46: Make sure to stay up to date with campus and Metronews at columbiachronicle.com. 

2:50: And sign up for our newsletter at columbiachronicle.com/newsletter. 

2:55: I’m Aaron Guzman. 

2:56: Thanks for listening. 

Copy edited by Matt Brady