So, how was my Summer?

Life at during a year at college can be tracked by the seasons, but also by the topic-of-the-month.

• Early fall: How was your summer/what did you do?
• Mid fall: How're midterms treating you? / What are you doing for Winter Study?
• Late fall: The weather: snow or the lack thereof.
• Winter Study: Hey, let's go do .
• Early Spring: How was your Winter Study?
• Mid-Spring: Spring Break/Major/Thesis queries.
• Late Spring: Summer plans and melancholy.

I love these conversations because they are instant small talk whenever you need it, but they can get a tad repetitive. Thus, for all of those people who know me well enough to read this, I grant you freedom from asking (though there are stories I won't be posting publicly you should ask me about :P )

Summer started off at Williams, where I moved to Dodd house (my own bathroom, but the shower only works if you're under 5'7"), and worked Commencement and Reunions. The key part: I got to eat during the intermediate time, so it was a chance to de-stress from exams, go talk to some profs I hadn't had time to see, and hang out with those seniors not at Hilton Head.

Then came commencement, where I was in the baccalaureate choir with some dear friends I hope to cross paths with sometime later in life, but also on staff as an "usher." I was asked to help out Dean Merrill, so I got to carry the giant prize-notebook around (and the temptation to read it) and generally worry about any other details at Ivy Exercises. Baccalaureate saw me walking around in a search for doorstops to keep Chapin's door open (it was rather warm), and then a surprised me trying to put on a choir robe in 15 seconds, which didn't quite work.

Commencement was inside (may that not happen to us, knock on wood), and I had the duty of standing near the stage to pass messages up and down. That job wasn't needed for the past few years, but with the tragedy in Europe, I had to pass things up to Dean Merrill several times, though I didn't know the context. Another student was injured, and I spent part of the rest of the day with her brother, whose composure was praiseworthy. The rest of my summer will follow in another post.