Mary Oyeyode
7:00 a.m. CST
I wake up and have my daily family devotion with God. This is a time for us to thank God for allowing us to see a new day, ask him to guide us throughout the upcoming day and read from the Bible.
9:45 a.m. CST
At this point, I have 15 minutes until it’s time to log onto the first Zoom meeting of the day. I use this time to pull out any packets we need for the day, take a quick peek at what activities we have planned for the day on my Google Calendar and check my e-mail and Google Chat for anything that I might have missed the day before, or that came in during the morning.
2024 Shad Kit filled with amazing experiential activities, program tools, and fun keepsakes
9:55 a.m. CST
Shad has officially started for the day, YAY!!! I go to my Google Calendar and use the link. I’m so happy our facilitator puts all the activities and links on the calendar, it makes it super easy to navigate all the Zoom meetings. There is always music playing while the Shads log in. The Zoom chat is usually already going off with greetings from the staff and a couple of Shads. I try to always type in a greeting to everyone as well. After this, a facilitator has a check-in question ready. The check-in questions help you to think deeply and get to know the other Shads as well. It’s something nice to look forward to every morning!
10:00 a.m. CST
We chat through any Shad wonderings, which are questions Shads have submitted in a Google form that is shared every day. The Shads remain anonymous, of course, so it makes it easier for questions to be freely asked, and the staff answers them to the best of their ability. After that, a facilitator announces the Shad Speaks highlights of the day, (there are usually 3-4 of them daily) and the link is shared for other Shads to go either read or watch them! We are then given a quick run-through of what our day will look like, and then sent off to our Google Calendars for the next session’s link.
10:15 a.m. CST
The first session of the day starts. This is usually design team time. My design team facilitator (Shoutout to Emilia Novic!) likes to start our sessions with a check-in question as well. There are different modules set up for us to work through and bring our idea to life, so we either start a new one or finish one up from the previous day. I like working with my teammates to find a solution to the Design Challenge that we think can work. If this session isn’t being used for design time, then we will have an online field trip, or a guest speaker instead. One of my favourite field trips was the Wildlife Safari! About once a week, part of the morning is used for a Tomorrow’s Toolbox session, which are presentations that our facilitators put together individually. They are related to either what the facilitator has studied, is studying, or an interest they are very knowledgeable about.
ShadAnywhere field trip activity to the Aga Khan Museum to learn about design and culture
12:00 p.m. CST
It is time for a nutrition break. If I’m hungry I will make some food to eat and just use this time to chill, stretch and take a break from being in front of my laptop. If I have stuff I need to get done, I will also use this time to work on it. My campus, The Mode, made a Google Chat called ‘Savour the Flavour,’ for people to share recipes. People sometimes send recipes during lunch, and I like checking them out.
1:00 p.m. CST
Our break is over, and we are back to Zoom. A staff member usually gives a little summary of what we are up to next. If we are having a guest speaker, there is usually a Shad that introduces them and gives some background information about their past achievements. We will sometimes have these sessions with our sister campuses, so it is nice getting to see people outside of my campus occasionally. Apart from guest speakers, the afternoons are also when we do more hands-on activities. One of my favourite hands-on sessions has to be when we got to build the Shadbot. I had never done anything like it before, I loved building the Shadbot.
ShadBot building session to learn about design
2:45 p.m. CST
After the latest afternoon session ends, we are given a little break from sitting down for so long. Sometimes we are allowed to turn our cameras off and do what we want for our break, but most times we do something as a group, like dancing to the macarena or doing a group stretch. After the break we have a quick session to do a small activity or get the opportunity to ask mentors questions concerning our design projects.
3:15 p.m. CST
Now we head into our Get Ready session, the last activity before Shad wraps up for the day, including different presentations you can sign up for throughout the program. Get Ready time is sometimes also used as Book Club time, where Shads from different campuses get together and do stuff related to books they’ve picked out. This is used as time for Shads to get together with the committee they chose and work on their respective projects. I chose to be part of the Shad Monthbook committee, which creates a “yearbook” for the month of July.
Origami activity performed by Shads on some of the ShadAnywhere campuses
3:50 p.m. CST
All the Shads come back to the main room, and we go over announcements, what kit items we will need for the next day at Shad, which is done by the staff, and end of day reviews/highlights, which is done by a rotation of selected Shads. If we have a Get Ready session where everyone is split up into different meetings, we decide to go through this routine beforehand. After this is done, everyone says their goodbyes for the day and logs off.
4:30 p.m. CST
The day at Shad officially ends for me, and I am free to use the rest of the day however I see fit, knowing that another exciting day at Shad will soon begin!
