Reunions

Experience vs. Expectation

Oct 03, 2022

While I consider myself an extrovert, I find that since the pandemic, my wick gets burned out a bit faster than in the ‘before before’ times. As such, I’m pretty selective regarding where I dedicate my time and my energy. So, as I was receiving invitations to fall reunions and gatherings, I began to panic a bit - I wanted to be there, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. Nonetheless, having deprived myself of these events for several years, I decided to get my head in the game and forge forward.

In the span of three days I was attending two markedly different reunions. The first, an evening reception for my undergraduate college at Boston University. The College of General Studies was my academic home from 1985-1987 and where I learned about learning. For the first time in my life I felt intellectually engaged. The team-teaching interdisciplinary approach sparked something in my brain that had never happened before - an appreciation of the interconnectedness of it all. The faculty were appointed and elevated for their teaching ability. And while there were research and publishing requirements for tenure consideration, I never had a Teaching Assistant. The faculty were the face of the program.

I was a B- student in high school. I struggled in math and science and my guidance counselor told me that I had no business attending a four year college. In 1985 Boston University took a chance on me, and I will forever be grateful to the institution. My very first faculty member was, Dr. Jay Corrin. He was a blue jean wearing social science professor who was absolutely masterful in the delivery of course content, regardless if it was in front of the entire first year class, or in a small discussion. That was another feature of the CGS program, faculty delivered in three distinct settings: large lecture halls with the full first year class, smaller lectures to the 90 or so students in their team, and section discussions. This gave me a real appreciation for and set a high bar regarding what I consider excellent teaching.

When I arrived at the reception recognizing the 70th anniversary of CGS, I was hoping to see a faculty member, but being that I am 55 years of age myself, I wasn’t optimistic. I didn’t think I would see fellow classmates, as I decided to attend the event on my own. Bottom line, I didn’t have high expectations. The expectations were shattered the moment I walked in and picked up my nametag. There he was, Profesor Corrin - still wearing his bluejeans. He remembered me (I’m sure the name tag helped) and we caught up on 35 years of life. After mingling with other members of the CGS faculty and administration, I saw an old friend who had graduated a class behind me, and an accomplished member of my team who I had not seen since leaving CGS in 1987.

We all were in different fields of work, but we had a common bond - the strong liberal arts foundation that CGS provided us. One an expat fundraising consultant living in Australia, the other an accomplished children’s rights attorney who took down Donald Trump and myself.

BU didn’t train us to be one thing or another, rather, CGS sparked something in each of us fueling our learning journey.

Two days later, I was returning to Boston, but closer to Fenway Park where a bar was the location for a reunion of Alumni from Mount Ida College. In 2018 Mount Ida College closed its doors, a casualty of small college fiscal challenges far too detailed to go into here, but suffice it to say, as the college’s last Vice President for Student Affairs, the closure still stings - primarily due to the fact that the students who were such an enormous part of the college’s existence have no physical home to return to. Several alums decided that it was far too long since Mount Ida graduates gathered together for an annual reunion, and planned a homecoming in a Fenway Park neighborhood bar.

I pulled out a Mount Ida College shirt and made my way over to the bar, hoping that my presence would be welcome. Despite feeling a bit uneasy, I was happy to see that alums, staff and faculty from my decade on campus greeted me with hugs and laughter. I soon found that the alumni who were there were contributing to the fields of study that Mount Ida had prepared them for. Most worked in local and state government, veterinary medicine, public safety/policing and teaching - especially special education. Mount Ida believed in them, as BU had believed in me, but the difference was that when enrolling at Mount Ida, these individuals had a strong belief in what they wanted to become - I had no idea what would become of me, but I trusted that I would figure it out.

As I reflected on these two similar but different reunions, I found great pride and love of my previous experiences, but for different reasons. At BU, I learned to be myself, and that whatever I had been told by my guidance counselor couldn’t be more far off. At Mount Ida, I paid it forward and taught students to believe in themselves. At BU I was challenged in the classroom in ways that set me up for a lifetime of learning. At Mount Ida I found myself challenged by young people who wanted college to position themselves for upward mobility and further education.

By Sunday morning, my wick was burned out from two different reunions, where my expectations were surpassed. I cannot wait to return.