The week of November third was polarizing at Gatton. Not because of political differences, but because of stresses. Our own Party Club held a viewing party of election results Tuesday night, and for those closely following the election, the week was a stressful one indeed. However, for many of the other Gatton students, this week provided the first break in a long semester. Regardless of the election, Gatton had many things of its own for the students to enjoy.

The week started out with thoughtful care packages from the Gatton Academy Parents on Sunday, which set everyone up for a good week. The care packages contained handwritten notes, snacks, and home-baked goods. Thank you very much to the parents who put this together!

This week also marked the beginning of Dr. Derick Strode’s How Do I…? series. On Monday, Gatton students met with Dr. Chris Biolsi to talk about drafting budgets for the President of the United States. Darius Barati spoke on Wednesday as an Emmy winning artist and director/producer. The week finished with a talk from Dr. David Keeling on Thursday, a cultural geographer who has traveled the world. The talks were very exciting and we look forward to enjoying the rest of the series. Thank you for putting these together, Derick.

On Wednesday, Gatton students also had a special opportunity to meet in-person with some of the professors they work with online. Math professors Dr. Mikhail Khenner and Dr. Samangi Munasinghe came to the Gatton lawn to visit, and so did computer science professor Dr. Huajing Wang. Students enjoyed socializing with the professors. The weather was nice and there was plenty of room to spread out.

To round out the week, all Gatton students were treated to a special seminar with NASA’s chief scientist Dr. James Green, where he gave a short presentation to Gatton students, alumni, and WKU faculty. He also talked at length on several of the questions that our community asked. This was a very special opportunity, especially for the NASA-inclined among Gatton.

So while this week was stressful for many, there was so much happening at Gatton that it was easy to take your mind off of pressing events.

-Andrew Davison