Peter Godwin Visits Campus

Does everyone remember the post I did earlier this summer about the summer common reading book for this year's first-years? It was When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that Coe tries to bring in the author of the summer common reading book or, if the author is out of our price range (such as Malcolm Gladwell for my year's Outliers), an author that can speak on the themes of the book.

This year, we were lucky enough to be able to bring Peter Godwin to campus. 

Photo from Coe College's Facebook page

He came on Monday and I had several opportunities to talk with him. Godwin started his day with the first-years, speaking to them about his book during their First Year Seminar class time. I sat in on the speech because I had the hour free and was interested in what he had to say. I was very impressed with our first-years; they asked him a lot of interesting and complex questions relating to the book.

I then got to take Godwin to lunch. Four other students joined us and some of them you know. My summer roommate Hayleigh, my friend and fellow blogger Ryan, Hannah, a peer from my FYS class with Rick Eichhorn three years ago, and Luke, a sophomore CAP leader and Writing Center consultant. It was a good lunch and we definitely didn't just talk about Zimbabwe; Godwin was super interested in Coe and things that are important to us. It was awesome. 

Godwin had some down time, so I took him around campus. It was a sort-of impromptu tour and very easy going. Our final destination was the Writing Center, where we hosted a tea. Lots of people showed up and it seemed that Godwin enjoyed getting to know even more Coe students.

The visit ended with Godwin speaking once more, for our first 2013-2014 Marquis Series event. It was a very interesting talk; kind of going over some of the same stuff he covered in the morning, but also, adding in some new stuff too. 

Once again, another neat opportunity thanks to Coe College. Woot.