Prison and Back

I’m glad to be back on campus after spending a few days in San Francisco with my oldest sister. My flight flew out of Burlington, Vt. (3 hours away) so I was able to spend the night at a friend’s from back home who now has an apartment there and is working in the area for the Obama campaign. While in San Francisco I was able to go hiking, visit Alcatraz and most importantly see Ratatat play at the legendary Filmore Music Hall.

Today I have fitness testing for squash. Last week captain’s practices began marking the very beginning of our season. It feels a little weird though, I must admit. A few of our women are abroad for the first semester and their absence is present during team gatherings. Katie Demakos is spending her semester in Florence,Italy while Meg North and Jesse Ziegler are in Kenya. As much as I miss their loud personalities I know they are gaining a lot from their unique experiences.

For the past three days Josh and I have been home in Buffalo, well Josh in Bemus which is right in the Jamestown area, for what we like to call ‘Send-Offs’ here at Admissions. A Send-Off event allows accepted students coming in the fall to have a meet-and-greet with those in the surrounding area. This allows freshman to have a connection with someone at St. Lawrence before they even walk onto campus. Josh and I were grateful to have been included in the Hamburg event at The Kopp family household where we sat on the patio looking on to Lake Erie talking with several incoming freshman and their parents. I think I can actually remember all their names (Rachael, Merrika, Griffin, Erin, John, Sarah and Thomas).

I didn’t attend my send-off event when I was an incoming freshman but I find myself wishing that I had. Initially, these students came together because they all lived in the Buffalo area but by the end of it Tom and Merrika found that they were both hoping to get their flying license after having completed their hours. Graduating from the same high school, Rachael and John were surprised to see one another step through the Kopps’ doorway and later laughed about incidents throughout their senior year of high school. Erin and I talked about a close friend of mine, Justin, who just so happened to be her cousin. Sarah and Josh discussed recent events at their alma mater, Maple Grove High School and Griffin shared a mutual feeling of excitement on beginning his college experience.

So now that I’m back on campus again I’ve just been giving tours, writing to prospective students and working on some side projects here and there. Lately I’ve been playing a lot of golf. This is actually a picture I took on the 14^th green as a storm was coming in. It's kind of dark but I think you can make it out.