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March 29, 2005
Letter to the Editor: This senior reflects on a Hamline life filled with unadulterated satisfaction
In six weeks, I will graduate from this institution, and I feel it is time to reflect back upon the time I have spent here, to put in my two cents.
I struggled at first. I’m from a small town, and it took me a few years to expand my socially constricted views on everything from movies to multiculturalism. I was a typical depressive youth and often locked myself in the bedroom, blaring Linkin Park from my speakers and decrying how woefully little my parents understood me.
I showed up on the doorstep of Drew Hall wearing innocuous clothing, hoping I’d fit in. I was teased at first, but I was soon accepted into the complex social circles of the Drew third-floor clique.
The rest is nearly history at this point, bountiful memories of laughter that I wish to share with you. Hamline was perfectly pleasant to me, and I will leave with zero regrets (except for that time I put away a bottle of vanilla vodka and was sick for two days).
Sorin food was simply delightful, especially the weekend brunches. My friends and I have lived in the dorms for four years, and we have made it a habit to traipse over to the dining hall every Saturday and Sunday, hangovers and all, and eat what we called “slow, painful death” - scrambled eggs, in other words. Yum. I’m thinking about it right now.
And how could I forget the parties? I still remember my first weekend on campus, when I walked with my roommate across Snelling Avenue to that big yellow house on Hewitt, stepped inside and down the cigarette-littered staircase, into a basement filled with fellow Hamlinites, gathered around the keg and bouncing to the latest Ja Rule single. I navigated the small, uninviting social circles that night like I had never done before - or have done since.
Of course, there was the academic life, sprinting to the library at 11:40 p.m. after remembering the research paper that was due the following day, or skipping class and driving to Perkins for lunch. But those fleeting moments take backseat to the intense social experiences I found at Hamline.
I spent one whole night hanging out with a girl I had a crush on. I often slept through significant portions of daylight and stayed up until 4 a.m. watching High Fidelity on cable. I survived one week eating nothing but doughnuts and turkey-stacker sandwiches from Super America. I drove my car across Old Main mall while drunk and high (no, wait, that was a friend of mine).
I could go on and on about my raucous Hamline experiences. But then again, why do you care? You’re having some of your own. Upon reflection, maybe everything outside my personal world wasn’t perfect. No one respected the president. The faculty were underpaid and departments were understaffed. Over half the campus went home every weekend. Come to think of it, I’ve often been lonely in the dorms. Students protested several things (which I never really paid attention to).
But, hey, who cares, right? Because if I learned one thing at all about my time at Hamline, it’s that the only thing that matters is me and what I care about.
Alexander Calder
Proud CLA Senior
Posted by msveum at March 29, 2005 01:21 PM
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