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

Dear Sewanee Seniors

Ecce Quam Bonum

Has it already been one year? On the 28th of April last year, I had just finished and turned in my senior honours thesis. I was stressed/ excited about my upcoming graduation, and everything that that meant. Grad week, the parties, our own party, and the graduation ceremony went by so quickly for how much we had planned and looked forward to them.  Since I've been an official Sewanee alumna for (almost!) a year, I felt that it would be appropriate to write a letter to current Sewanee seniors and soon to be alumni about grad week, graduation, and all that lies beyond, especially so because so many people from Sewanee's Class of 2015 are very dear to me!

As a proud graduate finally stepping on the seal! 

Dear Seniors,

I know it's hard to believe, but you did it! After all those classes, exams, late night study sessions and pub runs, talks with professors about everything and nothing, and countless memories that you've made over these past few years, you're finally done. While this may seem like the end of a journey, make no mistake; Sewanee and the people you met there will be with you for a long, long time to come. Here I speak not just from personal experience, but from meeting countless alums from the sixties to date. 

Nearing graduation, some of you may be worried about what lies ahead. Be it grad school, a job, or a lack of the above, it's absolutely natural to be apprehensive about what you're getting into. I've been on the 'other side' for a year, and wish that I knew then that there was absolutely no reason at all to worry. Take this time to enjoy your last few days as Sewanee students, and have faith that things will work out; not just because they always do, but because all of you have worked extremely hard for an amazing education, because you have an entire Sewanee community to support you, and because you didn't just spend your four years learning how to read and write. We value everything that you did over your Sewanee career, and it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world outside our bubble do too!

About your friends and professors and other wonderful members of the Sewanee community: I said it then and I'll stand by it now. Toward the last few months and weeks of your time at Sewanee is when you begin to realise who'll be with you for ages to come. Some of you may be moving very close to Sewanee, while others may be going very far from any Sewanee influence (like I did), and may be worrying about how you'll keep up with your Sewanee family. Trust me when I say that this is nothing to worry about! I haven't seen many of my Sewanee family for about a year now, and still feel as close to them, if not closer, even though I'm a continent away. It seems weird, but I think that people who have a Sewanee background find it much easier to stay connected once they leave. It's like spending all that time in that magical place can't help but bond us in ways that even we do not recognise. 

Grad week is going to be a LOT of fun!! (A word of advice; it's easy to forget about packing during this time, but trust me, you'll be happier starting earlier rather than later.) It may seem overwhelming what with all the different parties and locations and people, not to mention your own party if you're having one, but try and plan your week out with your friends in advance, while still leaving room for flexibility. While you will probably see most of the people you're graduating with over the next few months, years and decades, remember that these parties may be the last time you're seeing some of them for a while! 

Another thing about grad week; (this happened to me and some of my friends), grad week may be the time that the fact that you're leaving really sinks in. There may or may not be tears, but remember that everyone is kind of going through the same thing! For me, realisation sunk in and tears started on the Wednesday evening of grad week after a lovely 'farewell' catch up over Kenyan beer with one of my friends. It got worse when I saw another friend who had arrived for our graduation, and pretty soon my suitemate caught on to my mood. Between the two of us, we must've shed buckets of tears, largely at the PKE party, and largely on the dean's shoulder!! (Thanks Hagi :) ) 

Luckily though, we both got it out of our system that night itself, felt better for it, and used the rest of grad week to be happy about the time we were spending with our friends and families! 

Graduation itself seems like it goes on for a long time, but you'll be done before you know it! It may be hard, but try to get some sleep the night before. You're guided through everything, and all you have to do is to shake Dr. McCardell's hand, get your diploma, make sure to smile for all your pictures (and take plenty!), and run across the seal as many times as you wish!! You've accomplished SO MUCH, and deserve to celebrate your special day!

 Saying goodbye that Sunday may be the hardest part, but try and look at your goodbyes more like 'see you laters'. Trust me, the memories you've made, the people you've met, and the things you learnt at Sewanee (not just in the classroom) will stay with you far longer than you could ever imagine. 

I'm so proud of all of you. Remember, the world is now your oyster!

YSR, best of luck, and lots of love!!

Post Graduation Sewanee Appreciation

As shocking as it may seem to me, I'm not a college student anymore. All I have to do is look at this picture (attached for proof), showing me beaming and holding my degree, to confirm this. 

Of course, in the months after graduation, I don't think my fate had yet sunk in. It seemed like any summer vacation; I was away from my friends, and we were all doing fun, random things, many of us still unsure where we would 'end up'. But come end August, reality hit. My Facebook started blowing up with posts and pictures of people who were returning to Sewanee, and I realised that the next time I was on campus would be as a proud alum. 

Pic by Steven Alvarez

(Yes, Sewanee is really gorgeous. I've taken a tonne of pictures of the campus over four years... but somehow can't find them right now). 

It's weird after so many years of it, to be away from formal education. I keep having these irrational fears that my brain is going to rot away due to disuse. Irrational, as I said. But strangest of all is to be away from Sewanee, although this time has given me ample opportunity to reflect on just how lucky I was to go to school there. 

It's weird living near a large state school, and seeing undergraduates wear things like jeans and sweatshirts to class. Sure, I've worn jeans to class plenty of times on the mountain. However, we at Sewanee adhered to a tradition of class dress, and most people dressed up to attend classes. Professors were almost ALWAYS formally dressed, and wearing their academic gowns. I remember the first time I saw one of my Economics professors in jeans, I was mildly taken aback. 

There are countless wonderful things about Sewanee that I could go on about, but one of my favourites is the large Sewanee family that you become a part of (and stay a part of, even after graduation). As a student from a large city in the heart of East Africa, you could say I was a little apprehensive at the thought of attending school in a small college town in Tennessee. I soon realised that I had absolutely NOTHING to worry about. The people there were happy and friendly, and warm even to strangers.The Sewanee motto is 'Ecce quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum'. Translated, 'Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity'. I've met alumni from the sixties who are still so absolutely in love with their alma mater, and I have witnessed firsthand the strong and caring alumni network that Sewanee has. 

Great luck doesn't even begin to describe how I found Sewanee; or rather, how Sewanee found me. 

YSR!