Opening Day - from Sabrina

Sabrina B. '12 writes about the first day on campus.

The opening ceremony for the Round Square conference was held at the Bikaner Pavilion on the Mayo Campus. The pavilion is a beautiful open air area in which all the delegates and teachers sat, organized by school. We sat near the top, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Dressed in our home-made Hotchkiss uniforms, we stood out a bit from the other delegates clothed in matching, elaborate ones. It was interesting to see how well each uniform reflected the schools. For example the Mayo girls school uniform was a modern take on tradition Indian attire while Scottish girls were wearing ankle length tartan skirts despite the unbelievable heat. The diversity of the students attending the conference was apparent by just glancing at the attire.


The ceremony began with a parade of 18 antique cars owned by various Mayo alumni. Each car, carrying an important Round Square board member, pulled up to a red carpet that circled the grand stage. Men in white suits and colorful turbans emerged as they were announced by a speaker. Although this entire procession was quite surprising, the most shocking thing was the board member that emerged from the final call. It was Prince Andrew. Duke of York. As he walked done the aisle surrounded a group of Mayo students accompanying, every student whipped our their cameras and took pictures. He took his seat at an actual throne, facing the stage.

The whole ceremony was meticulously planned down the last detail. It contined with the Prince, the principal of Mayo, and the head of Round Square making brief speeches each welcoming us to the school. Every time someone noteworthy went onto the stage, a Mayo student was ready to accompany them. Every guest was treated like royalty, not only the Prince.

Next came the flagbearing procession during which one member from each school walked across proudly bearing the flag of our school. Only at this moment did it dawn on me the number of schools and vartiety of countries represented at the conference. As the ceremony came to a close I thought about how formal it had been, a type of formality I hadn't really seen in a school environment before. I couldn't help but compare Mayo College to Hotchkiss. Both are beautiful in their own right,.offer excellent educations, and are boarding but besides these few similarities, everything else was so strikingly different.

Directly after this the first speaker came up. She was a small, older woman named Aruna Roy dressed in a lovely sari. She was charismatic and engaging, holding the attention of even a group of overheated teenagers very well. Mrs. Roy, an activist, among many things, told us about herself and then continued on to her cause. She was an activist of human rights, especially for those in poverty. After driving thtough Mumbai, only briefly, the amount of slums and poverty was eye-opening to say the least. The feeling of shock and sadness still lingered with me even two days later. Sitting in the conference, in a beautiful school for the most privileged of children surrounded by people waiting on us hand and foot, my mind drifted back to the slum children of Mumbai many times. Although I knew the situation was out of my control and that I should stop thinking and enjoy my time at the conference, I was left with unexplicable guilt.

To hear such a strong advocate for them so early in the conference reassured me quite a bit, I felt a bit more at ease. Mrs. Roy was so driven and ambitious in her cause, yet refereshingly not idealistic. She knew that the problem wouldn't be solved in a day, her lifetime, or probably ours, but she knew, despite this that she wanted to take an active role in helping. Another thing I liked about her was depsite her obvious success and probable wealth, Mrs. Roy lived modestly, as she described to us. I enjoyed hearing her greatly and was excited for the speakers to come.