Believe in the Extraordinary

The universe works in strange and often mysterious ways. Whatever your religious beliefs (or lack thereof), I doubt you can argue against this fact. And often, you're reminded of this fact when you're least expecting it.

Today, I was having a pretty normal day- client meeting in the morning, and came home to chat with my mum for a little bit before sitting back to work. When talking to my mum, she reminded me of something amazing that happened to me a few years ago, and just how lucky I was, and it made me realise that I'd never talked about it on my blog before. So, here goes...

Picture taken by Caroline Williams, C'14

A little over 6 years ago, I was in the process of preparing and sending out my college applications. I had decided that I wanted to study in the U.S. (because studying in Kenya or the U.K. would have restricted me to a single subject, and I wanted to do more), but there was a bit of a struggle in that coming from a British educational system, I knew little to nothing about the American educational system- and neither did the careers department from my high school.

I was forced to look outside my school system for help on applications and prerequisite examinations like the SATs, and so I ended up at the American Educational Advisory Center in Nairobi. Again, here, due to a lack of information on my part, most of the universities I applied to were chosen by someone else.

When studying for my SATs, I met an admissions counsellor from Sewanee: The University of the South. He wasn't here for a school visit, so our meeting was complete coincidence. I had never heard of Sewanee before, which now actually astounds me, considering its reputation (to give you a hint, one of my best friends turned down Harvard for Sewanee without even thinking about it twice). He spoke to a group of us about Sewanee and also spoke of the five full merit scholarships that were awarded annually to international students. At this point, I thought that there was NO WAY I would ever make the cut. I was a good student, but competing with hundreds of others from around the world for 5 spots at such a highly ranked school? I really didn't think I'd ever make it. I wasn't even sure I would get in!

Anyway, the talk piqued my interest, and I started to do more research into Sewanee. The more I learnt, the more impressed I was, and I decided to apply.

March 2010: I found out I got in. I wasn't selected for one of the five full scholarships... but I was their first alternate! I was absolutely astounded- I honestly hasn't expected this at all.

April 2010: In addition to all the extraordinary line of events leading up to this, one of the original five turned down their scholarship- which meant that I got it!

Of course, I was ecstatic at this point. This was a fantastic opportunity at a fantastic school, and six years after the whole process, I can honestly say that going to Sewanee was the best decision I've made in my life so far.

In addition to the amazing education I got and the networks I'm now a part of (graduating from Sewanee is like joining a huge and happy global family who're more than willing to help each other out), Sewanee gave me the very best of friends and mentors and memories I'll treasure for ages!

From never having heard of this school to discovering how amazing it was to thinking I may not get in to not only getting in but being awarded a full scholarship, I feel like my life so far is proof that sometimes, the unexpected happens in the most extraordinary of ways!

At graduation, an amazing 4 years later

I think I needed to reflect on this and write about it today. Thanks for the reminder Mum!

YSR & EQB

Sewanee: A Few Years Later

Today's guest blogger is one of my best friends, the wonderfully talented and beautiful Catherine Clifton, and she's writing about one of my favourite places in the world!

Picture taken by Caroline Williams, C'14

“Where’d you go to undergrad?”

“Sewanee: The University of the South.”

“Oh. Cool.”

You have no idea, person who has never seen my mountain views and my Gothic architecture and my black-gowned scholars and my madras sportcoats. “Cool” will suffice if you’ve never heard of Sewanee, but let me educate you, because the love I have for my alma mater just can’t be contained.

Picture a place where it’s entirely possible to meet a new person, but feel like you’ve known them for a good long while. After all, they had that English class with Reishman and his tattered gown that only covers one of his shoulders; they missed the sound of bells over the summer when they went home; they know that Lake Trez is probably radioactive; they’re familiar with Highlanders, Wellingtons, heathens, and lurches; they tap the roof of their car without knowing they’ve moved their hand from the wheel; and they know a girl with a red flower behind her ear will drink them dry of Cuervo.

There are places in the world that people of faith refer to as “thin places”—places where the barrier between God and man is thinner, more transparent. Go to the Cross on a snowy morning. Walk through Abbo’s Alley after a storm, and let the smell of green fill you up until you feel chlorophyll in your veins. Snap your fingers in All Saints’ and wait for the echo from the stone and glass.

Here is the place where abandon is found not only in the fraternity houses but in the classroom and the grandstand. Abandon: to give (oneself) over unrestrainedly. To revel in the moment of discovery, of accomplishment, of fragility, of competition, of young love, of debauchery, of growing pains and growing joys.

Here is the place that teaches all aspects of life. It is not perfect; far from perfect, it is deeply flawed, and it has danger and hurt and conflict and fear. But it brings together people who have felt those feelings and people who have lived in bubbles, and it flings them toward an embrace made of diverse arms and hands. Sewanee holds itself together, and it never lets go. You leave the Holy Mountain. You take your angel with you, and your friends’ phone numbers, and your pictures and T-shirts and bachelor’s degree—but the Mountain keeps you close. Even in the deepest fog, the cornerstone waits and does not move.

Ecce quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum.

Behold how good and joyful a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

Picture taken by Caroline Williams C'14

Sewanee: One Year Later

Picture by Emily Bailey, C'14

I'll apologise in advance for the way this post might seem that it's all over the place! The only way to describe it is to say that Sewanee is so much for me that it's hard to collect my thoughts and put them on paper (...on screen?). 

Today is exactly one year and a few days since I graduated from this beautiful place. It's so hard to believe that I've been out in the 'real world' for so long! The time I spent at Sewanee may have been less than a fifth of my life (....okay, so maybe that's still quite a long time), but it definitely changed me, almost completely, and has given me a wide variety of Sewanee-tinged of lenses with which I now view the world and everything in it. 

Sewanee people will know what I'm talking about when I refer to "that EQB feeling". The magic of the place that is Sewanee has ensured that that feeling of connectedness, love and support is still strong, long after we have left the gates. Sewanee has given us a family and a home. 

After a few months, words and details do start to fade. I may not be able to recall in perfect detail anymore that one conversation I had with that one person at that one place that one night, but that doesn't mean that the conversation wasn't had. Every experience I had at Sewanee, every person I met there, every mistake I made and every challenge I overcame there has helped shape me into the person that I am today, and continues to do so even though I'm so far from the mountain. 

I don't know if luck was in my favour when I got into Sewanee, or if I managed to "get things right", but (the majority of) the people I met there were amazing and inspiring, and among these were those I'm blessed to call my best friends. I know I've said this before, but I've heard that a person is lucky if they even have one real friend they can count on. This amazes me, because I left Sewanee with a treasure trove, and the proof of this lies in the strength of our bonds after so much time since we were all last together and the many miles now between us. I'm not just talking of the almost-stereotypical, same-sex friendships with people of the same age group and same background, but friendships between people from all different walks of life. 

The great thing about Sewanee? This wasn't something that only I experienced. Many of my peers talk about this feeling, and still do, and I've heard alums go on about what Sewanee has given them, many many years after they've graduated. 

Don't get me wrong; Sewanee didn't just give us beautiful friendships, a great support system, wonderful social lives and a view to die for... we also were lucky recipients of a world-class education that left us well prepared for jobs and grad school. 

To my alma mater, all I can say is this: thank you!

YSR

Quintard: A lovely introduction to dorm life