K College

Mom and her future K Hornet

En route to the east side of the state to see Cary and Donna, we stopped in Kalamazoo for lunch at Road House and briefly drove through campus. My alma mater - what a fantastic place! The older I get I am more grateful than ever for the education I had there. I am so proud of my parents for encouraging me to pick the RIGHT school, no matter the location and cost (I can't currently fathom encouraging Ollie to go 2,000+ miles away from me!). I am filled with amazing memories of my time in Kalamazoo. Trowbridge, Hoben, Severn. The theatre, the admissions office, the quad.

I immediately remember my first two English classes with Gail Griffin and my first C paper and the subsequent time she spent with me helping me learn how to write. I remember Dr. Dorrien and all the religion classes that cracked into my upbringing with an amazing clarity - "The Word as True Myth". I remember Adrienne giving me her old copy of "Franny and Zooey". I remember Ed Menta's theatre history courses and singing early American Musicals with Ryan. I remember freshman year sociology and learning that you can't really ditch class anymore. I remember almost failing statistics as a senior. I remember doing Vagina Monologues to standing ovations. I remember by Senior Individualized Project, Julie Johnson. I remember talking to Wa and encouraging her to perform with confidence and having a little glimmer of what my life in leadership could look like. I remember countless admissions tours and overnights and all the kids I encouraged to choose K if it was right for them. I remember cooking dinner for Felicity, Megan and Sarah as a sophomore and feeling so honored to have older friends. I remember partying with Ryan, Matt and Caitlin and loving having such fun younger friends. I remember Lauren and Jen being loyal roommates who felt like sisters at times. I remember graduation day feeling so sad. I remember walking back onto campus the day after graduation and immediately realizing it was time to move on.

In this last visit, I mainly noticed that I no longer felt nostalgia in the same way. The students seemed so much younger than me that I couldn't quite pretend I fit in anymore. I walked through the quad mainly hoping that Oliver will get a wonderful college experience too.