It’s that time again.

That’s right. It’s time to put on your backpacks, make sure you’ve got enough pencils, almost misplace your room key and panic, and then trudge up Chapel Hill to attend classes at Chatham University.

Returning students and newcomers alike began classes this week, settling into their new living spaces and the routine of their schedules. Things can get a little fuzzy at first, like various technology problems among first years with their new laptops or the bookstore running out of the books needed for a class before the demand is filled. Some students even have new jobs on campus and are piecing together how to juggle both work and schoolwork.

But despite these problems, new and interesting things are always occurring at Chatham. Solar panels have been added to the Woodland and Fickes dorms to provide more energy and less waste on campus. New staff members, like Dr. Karen Kingsbury in the Humanities Department, are learning their way around campus and testing out the ropes. A Residence Hall Committee is in the works to give residents more of a voice in on campus living. A group of twenty Chatham Scholars have joined the scholar family. Fickes, Laughing and Rea, Woodland, and the Chatham Apartments are already planning how to win House Olympics this year. Undergrads are pondering which song to sing for the Song Contest during Battle of the Classes. And Chatham University has declared that as part of our Global Focus program, the 2011-2012 school year will be the Year of Vietnam.

Students kicked off the school year by attending Opening Convocation, where the Year of Vietnam really began its display. Some very willing Chatham students who helped with first year orientation performed with a Vietnamese fan dance, darting about on the stage in simple black costumes with green sashes. While their moves may have been those of beginners, they performed enthusiastically and provided the perfect opening act for a traditional Vietnamese dragon dance. This group of performers swayed in a dragon costumed adorned with various colors. Students and faculty both smiled in delight at the reds and greens and yellows of the dragon costume as the dancers managed to move in harmony, bringing life to the creature. Afterward, students were treated to the Global Focus picnic, which focused on traditional Vietnamese cuisine.

There are so many things happening around Chatham this year that it doesn’t just have to be that time again. Everyone has the chance to get involved with exciting opportunities or simply learn about a different and fascinating culture. So don’t follow the same routine. Instead, let this year be something new.