[Bryn-gwlad] newcomers' household (was: Badges and banners)

[Eule]

I would also like to add to Coblaith's note that folks do, indeed,
"graduate" from our newcomers household.

Since I never participated in this group (being a fossil myself), I'm
not sure what the timeframe is but I seem to recall it being 1 year.
Mot and/or Douglas are better able to address that than I.

Eule/Steve
Unus sed Leo
 


-----Original Message-----
From: bryn-gwlad-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:bryn-gwlad-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Coblaith
Mhuimhneach
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 3:43 PM
To: Barony of Bryn Gwlad
Subject: [Bryn-gwlad] newcomers' household (was: Badges and banners)


Meser Lyonel Oliver Grace wrote:
> Yes, I included willing households under mentoring. A group working
> together has an easier time mentoring than an individual. I do not, 
> however, think that this should be a dedicated newcomer household. 
> That's just a ghetto. Households should be about belonging. The goal 
> of a member of a newcomers' household is to graduate from it. Now a 
> newcomers' college--that I can see.

Hold on, now.

Bryn Gwlad HAS a newcomers' household; that isn't one of the proposed 
innovations.  The honorable Amata and Douglas have run it for some 
time.  (I'm not sure how long, exactly; it predates my involvement in 
the SCA.)  And, in my experience, it does a fine job of giving 
newcomers a sense of belonging.

The Newcomers' Household sponsors a series of classes for neophytes, 
where they can absorb basic info about the Society and begin to make 
friends in a smaller, less intimidating setting than Populace in the 
Park.  It also secures space "near the action" at events, where anyone 
who's been in Bryn Gwlad for less than a year can sit (or stand, 
depending on the situation), and when necessary ask for clarification 
as to what they're seeing.  Nobody's asked to take advantage of these 
opportunities unless she wishes to do so.  But those who do take 
advantage of them have the benefit of knowing they have a place at 
feast (no sitting alone in the corner feeling awkward, no need to walk 
up to total strangers--however friendly--and say, "Can I sit with 
you?"), someone at every event will know their name and be glad to see 
them (even if it's just their teachers), and they'll be able to follow 
what's happening in court (both because there'll be someone there to 
answer questions and because they'll be close enough to the throne[s] 
to hear the proceedings clearly).  That goes a long way toward turning 
a self-conscious outsider into a new MEMBER who has a lot to learn but 
feels like a part of what's going on.

As you said, people differ.  Maybe you feel being integrated into a 
smaller group within the Barony would impair your assimilation into the 
whole.  But many people (I'd venture to say most) become part of the 
Barony by becoming part of sub-sections of it--guilds, groups of 
fighters, the playground-watching cooperative, whatever.  The 
Newcomers' Household is one sub-section to which the visitor can feel 
welcomed, unquestionably, as a full participant rather than an observer 
or an aspirant, and I believe its existence is a great boon to our 
community.


Coblaith Mhuimhneach
<mailto:Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>

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