Well, it's that special time again. When I feel isolated and distant from familiar friends and places I felt most attached to and need to share my thoughts with those people and hope that they respond with some sort of validation so I know I am not forgotten.
I just left Kenyon College with degree in hand, marking my official status as an alumnus. More importantly, officially no longer a student. That is what is the most difficult to accept, I am no longer a student. I identified myself first and foremost as a (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) at Kenyon College [in Ohio] for the past four years. It was an efficient way to answer how old I am, where I currently live, what I am studying-if they had never heard of Kenyon, they didn't really care, and if they had heard of it, they knew it was some highfalutin subject that won't actually get me employed. But know I answer with the ambiguous "I graduated from Kenyon" which does not answer how old I am, or where I currently live, or if what I studied really has anything to do with my job. I can no longer claim the exclusive title of "Kenyon Student" that only 1600 young people have the honor of flaunting any given year. We had to leave to make room for the 18-year-olds bursting with delusions of grandeur of what they are going to accomplish as a Kenyon student. It's odd. Feeling so immediately separated from something that I was so immersed in two weeks ago.
The first piece of wisdom I ever received as an over-eager first-year from Peter Rutkoff: Learning does not end after college. Let's see if he's right!
I just left Kenyon College with degree in hand, marking my official status as an alumnus. More importantly, officially no longer a student. That is what is the most difficult to accept, I am no longer a student. I identified myself first and foremost as a (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) at Kenyon College [in Ohio] for the past four years. It was an efficient way to answer how old I am, where I currently live, what I am studying-if they had never heard of Kenyon, they didn't really care, and if they had heard of it, they knew it was some highfalutin subject that won't actually get me employed. But know I answer with the ambiguous "I graduated from Kenyon" which does not answer how old I am, or where I currently live, or if what I studied really has anything to do with my job. I can no longer claim the exclusive title of "Kenyon Student" that only 1600 young people have the honor of flaunting any given year. We had to leave to make room for the 18-year-olds bursting with delusions of grandeur of what they are going to accomplish as a Kenyon student. It's odd. Feeling so immediately separated from something that I was so immersed in two weeks ago.
The first piece of wisdom I ever received as an over-eager first-year from Peter Rutkoff: Learning does not end after college. Let's see if he's right!
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