Strings, Rings, and Other Things

Now that I've survived my last week of class, senior finals, and senior grades, I can finally pause long enough to comment on last weekend. Alumni Weekend was great: I got to catch up with lots of friends I hadn't seen (or sometimes even heard from at all) in ages, I got to see several wonderfully cute little kids (whose antics I usually only hear about secondhand), and I unexpectedly got to hang out at an impromptu East Dorm party for a while.

That brought back some fantastic memories, both of fun times at East generally and of Patri's still-famous hedonism party in particular: this one wasn't on remotely the same scale (considering the complete lack of pre-planning), but it had surprisingly many of the same great people and it once again featured Patri playing death chess (shirts vs. skins death chess, at that). It was a little odd being at the dorm as a faculty member: at least a couple of students recognized me (one of them is apparently hoping to take a class with me next year). It made me more actively aware of my responsible side, but I suppose I've never really been one to go wild at parties anyway.

For those of you Claremont people who were there, thanks for coming! (I'm finding myself feeling surprising twinges of "playing host" here, since I didn't have to travel at all.) For those who couldn't make it, there's always our 15 year reunion (or, hey, I'll be here next year as well). I'm very happy to have moved forward in life and to have the opportunities and responsibilities that I have today, but there are certainly things that I miss about college life.

It appears that there isn't much momentum behind a major Alumni Weekend trip this year (which may have something to do with the late notice of the actual schedule for the thing). Seeing that, Kim and I have finally recognized a few things that make it less than ideal for us as well: plane flights are expensive with less than three weeks' notice, apartment hunting would be difficult if we were spending all our time hanging out with friends (or faculty), and if we won't be out late every night at Mudd we can probably get free lodging with friends in the area. So I think we're going to back out of the event as well.

On the bright side, my job in Claremont means that we'll almost certainly be at Alumni Weekend next year (and quite likely the next two). Meanwhile, we'll look for other opportunities to visit our friends.