As a faculty advisor, I always wonder what phrase to use when talking to frosh in our first meeting. Do I ask, “What do you want out of your time at Wesleyan? Why did you choose Wesleyan? What kind of person do you see yourself becoming?”
The same dilemma faces me four years later as I talk with my senior advisees. What does their Wesleyan education mean to them? What are they taking away from here that will be significant in their lives?
This spring I served on the committee that interviewed candidates for the role of senior speaker at Commencement. Each of the accomplished prospective speakers was asked to describe what their Wesleyan experience meant to them. One student said he had learned not to be jealous of other people’s success. Four years is a very short time to learn a lesson so simple and yet so profound.
How would other seniors answer that important question, I wonder? What do I want to say to them? Don’t worry. Please don’t worry about your future accomplishments and challenges. Even those of you with a clear path in mind don’t know where chance and serendipity will take you. I know you are embarking on a scary endeavor. Don’t worry. For most of you, from the beginning of consciousness, college was in your future. For those of you who didn’t grow up a family where a college education was considered a given, you are especially privileged, because most likely you have experienced more than money can buy. But however you got here, in less than 30 days you’ll be graduating. For many of you there is no clear next step. Which, believe it or not, is something to celebrate. Don’t worry. This is a moment of true freedom, a priceless opportunity for exploration and growth. Scary, even terrifying, but exciting. Take your thinking, writing and analytical skills and see where they fit. You’ll find them taking you in directions you could not have anticipated.
This March, for example, I received an email from a student, class of ’96, asking for a letter of recommendation. After graduation he crewed sailboats for a few years. But for the past nine years he’s been working at U.S. research stations in Antarctica. His resume says, “Duties include logistical support of remote Antarctic field camps by zodiac. Facilitate science using skills including carpentry, welding, hydraulics, rigging, boat hull and engine repair and maintenance, navigation … and weather assessment and forecasting.” Few people get to Antarctica at all and he’s lived there for extended periods of time. Now he’s found an interesting research project and has decided to go to graduate school.
And consider this year’s commencement speaker, another traveler of the indirect route. John Hickenlooper ’74 graduated from Wes with a bachelor’s degree in English, and then stayed in Middletown another six years earning an MA in geology. While in Middletown, he helped to start several important community organizations, including the Community Health Center. Shortly afterwards, the early 1980s oil boom beaconed him Colorado. His Facebook page now says, “geologist and brewer turned mayor and candidate for Governor!” I wonder when anyone last asked him about his GPA?
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