The past president of Presidio Graduate School when I graduated from there, Ron Nasher, was fond of saying "begin again" when people confronted a challenge that was insurmountable. Often, it's the only possible course in business or life, anyway.

Yesterday, we started the new year. While we're not at a point of insurmountable challenge, the term is still appropriate as the cycle for the year starts again. For the 62 new students entering the program, they start the journey others have made before but with a few modifications.

We have 118 students this year (our most ever), split between to different tracks. They come from 15 different countries (including Canada, Brazil, Mexico, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Germany, and Nepal) and 22 of them commute from all over North America.

They're off to a great start already and we look forward to their innovative ideas and energy this year.

Today is the last day of orientation (we had one last week as well). Our 118 students are all off on their journey for the new year. As part of our orientation, and thanks to the advice from our students who completed last year, we've welcomed our students with an orientation kit of survival items:

• first sketchbook (we have them keep design journals for every studio)
• first (of many!) pads of Post-It™ notes
• highlighter
• two white board markers (the other must-have accessory in the program)
• a spork--even with a knife attached (we all have to eat)
• a pair of chopsticks (it is San Francisco, after all)
• a (dematerialized) thumbdrive with a PDF survival guide
• a great little book on the variety of design craft (since we're not a design program)
• quick reference card with the entire schedule for the year and important URLs
• welcome card with map and schedule

They returning students didn't get the orientation kit but we've got surprises for them tomorrow ; )

This year, we're also implementing a buddy system as well as a mentoring program. All of our new students are matched with "buddies" in the second year of the program so they have someone to turn to for a student's perspective--especially for advice about homework, the best tools to use, etc.

Our new mentor program pairs our second year students with professionals within our larger community for career and professional advice. Some amazing people have volunteered an hour a month to mentor our students. If you're interested in becoming a mentor next year, please email us.