Beginnings and Ends

The life of the Vassar campus goes in cycles. There's the normal buzz of the academic year, the migration to the Library around finals, and then the mass exodus shortly thereafter. There's the anticipatory hum of Senior Week, and then the explosion of sights and sounds of Commencement. Literally thousands of family members, friends and loved ones descend onto the Poughkeepsie campus, take their seats on the Outdoor Amphitheater, and watch their sons and daughters receive their Latin-inscribed diplomas.

But then, just hours after the eruption of graduation is over and President Hill hands out her final leather-clad degree, a sudden quiet falls over the campus once again. The crowds are gone, the tents are coming down, and the freshly-mowed lawns are empty; the campus is settling into the summer to await the next Vassar class.

I had the pleasure of meeting some members of the Class of 2013 at a gathering in New York City. As I watched them play frisbee in Central Park, eat their sandwiches on the Great Lawn, and discuss their intended majors and careers, I couldn't help but remember my own NYC meet-up just three years ago. And then my mind drifted the the pre-Vassar meetings that probably occurred 50 years ago, and the ones that will occur 50 years from now.

I've attended each graduation since I was a high school senior -- four in total so far. Next year I will graduate myself, which is hard to imagine. Vassar has become such a central part of my life, and I've gotten so accustomed to seeing others walk across that stage, shake the President's hand, and walk on with their diploma. The thought of doing that myself is unimaginable. Hopefully my attitude will change within the next year. Vassar students always say that they enjoy their senior year more than all of their other college years combined.

Life at Vassar -- which will turn 150 in 2011 -- is cyclical. The campus is filled with rich tradition and countless stories. Commencement always makes me look backward and forward on the school I love. The players change, but the game remains the same. Life at Vassar is cyclical.