Momentous Occasions

Tomorrow is the 4th birthday of my blog, The Debate Link. But I likely will be distracted from celebrating. I began blogging the summer before I entered Carleton College. Which means today is a new chapter in the blog, but more importantly, in my life. For I have, as of 11:30 this morning, officially graduated from Carleton College, magna cum laude and with distinction in Political Science.

But for once, I don’t want to talk about myself, but about my friends. The number of wonderful people I’ve met at Carleton is to great to count, much less to recount. But in a special category are those folks who resided with me on my Freshman floor — 4th Burton.

Though friendships at Carleton are easy to make and even easier to keep, the kids on 4th Burton my year were legends around campus as an unbelievably close group (also as the “sub-free floor that wasn’t”, but that’s a separate story). We all had different interests and different strengths, but we never drifted away or stopped seeing each other. Each term after Freshman year, when we had scattered to various other locations around campus, we hosted a “reunion” — a moving party stopping at our various new rooms to make sure we stayed in touch.

The 4th Burton crew were extraordinary friends, and they also were extraordinary people. I hope they’ll forgive me if I recount to you all what their respective post-graduate plans are, as a testament to their incredible talent as well as our incredible friendship.

Like any group of seniors, a few don’t have firm plans yet. Richard is thinking of moving back home to Mississippi to work as a computer programmer, or possibly Silicon Valley for the same. Mo hasn’t even gotten that far, but given that she was the only one of us to get distinction in not one but two majors, I’m sure she’ll be doing just fine whatever she decides.

Brandy is working for Goldman Sachs in New York — a long way from her home in South Dakota. Our floor’s other South Dakotan, Adam, is staying right in Northfield to teach high school English. Peter, too, is becoming a teacher in his native Chicago. He’ll be living with my Freshman year roommate, Brian, who is preparing to apply to Vet school — just like he said he would four years ago.

A few folks are going abroad to teach. George will be spending a year teaching English in Japan, followed by another year teaching in Taiwan. Mandi is skipping step one of that path, going straight back to Taiwan to teach English on a Fulbright Scholarship.

Gabe is the only one besides myself to immediately head off to grad school — he’s going to UNC to study Computer Science. But Lauren is preparing to apply to Medical School next year, and her roommate Wendy is deferring one year after being accepted to Med School at the University of Minnesota. She’s come a long way since she microwaved her pet fish to death because she “thought it looked cold.”

Seth is moving to Boston, but won’t be spending much time there as he travels the globe as a healthcare consultant. Carrie is moving to St. Louis with her fiance — her middle-school sweetheart (they got engaged this year), and is thinking about applying to graduate school in Chemistry. And finally, Kace tranferred out of Carleton before her Senior year to UVA, realized she made a huge mistake in doing so, and transferred right back the next term. Unfortunately, that meant she needed one more term to graduate, so she’s headed back in the Fall. But that’s just another reason for us to visit!

To them, and to all my other many graduating friends, thank you. You’ve already done amazing things, and we will I’m sure continue to do them throughout the rest of our lives.