So Long

One of the graduation requirements is to write a Senior Letter, a reflection on the years spent learning, working, serving, and living at Warren Wilson. It can be pretty much anything that you want it to be, but it is supposed to incorporate each branch of the triad specifically and the ways that the triad influenced your college experience as a whole. As a graduating senior, I thought it might be helpful, to those of you considering WWC for your college experience, to post some excerpts from my letter in hopes that it will effectively convey what a wonderful education I have received here.

Senior Letter (Excerpts)
Major: English Literature with Honors
Minor: Vocal Music

To The Faculty and Staff of Warren Wilson College:

This is an interesting assignment for me, and I feel as though I have had a lot of practice explaining my college experience as a result of working on the Admission Crew for nearly two years. In fact, it may be difficult for me to identify the negative aspects of my Warren Wilson experience because I am so used to having to explain every piece of Wilson life in a positive light to sometimes skeptical parents. I guess my point is that in having to think of a positive spin for everything about WWC, I have grown to appreciate things that I might not otherwise. In the eyes, expressions, and questions of people seeing our community for the first time, my love for this place is constantly rejuvenated.

Another area of personal growth that is a direct result of my work on the crew is that I am an infinitely more confident person than when I first came to school four years ago. Assuming the role of tour guide has allowed me to overcome some self-consciousness and to show my best side. I get to be funny, knowledgeable, intelligent, and captivating all at the same time, and I get paid for it! I cannot express the importance of meaningful work in my life. I know that the friendships that I’ve forged with fellow crewmembers, admission staff, and my Scrabble buddy, Marge, will last as long as we all do. As for academics, I could not be happier that I chose to major in English. I think that it is one of the strongest departments on campus, filled with brilliant, engaging professors. I particularly enjoyed any Carol Howard class that I took. Anyone who can make Restoration Literature bearable has got to be a great teacher.

Aside from the classes within my major, there have been a few notable ones that I’ve really appreciated. Lynn Pohl’s history course was one of the most challenging classes I took. I avoided philosophy like the plague until I accidentally took a political philosophy class, disguised by the alluring title Law and Order in Film and Literature. I got to reread things that I had totally written off in high school and see films that I might have never seen otherwise. I got to sing with the jazz band and play Betty the prostitute in The Threepenny Opera for course credit. I went and ate Indonesian food at Siti’s house at the end of my very first semester with my peer group. I traveled to London with Mycoff and Sharon, saw lots-o-plays, and drank lots-o-Guinness. I then flew to Belfast, Northern Ireland to visit Jemma, a student who was studying abroad at Wilson, after my course formerly known as Worldwide was over.

After all of those great experiences, my life is currently consumed by two things: my thesis and photography. I cannot thank Ron B. and Carol enough for assisting me with what still seems to me a monumental undertaking (only 11 and ¾ pages to go!). I have really enjoyed reading all of these great plays as well as my discussions with Ron and Carol. I am especially thankful that their support allowed me to pursue a topic that I really wanted to do, AIDS Drama, despite the fact that I am working with plays that the majority of the English faculty have neither read nor heard of. As for photography, I just wish that I had started my first semester. I took Photo I because I was in two upper-level English courses, one of which was my senior honors course, and I really felt that I needed a different kind of work to stay sane through it all. I have found my artistic niche in photography, which is equally process-driven and creative. One thing that I have learned through photography is that if you act like you are supposed to be somewhere, people generally buy it. A Nikon SLR can provide access to people and places that you wouldn’t believe. It was through photography that I truly got to know downtown Asheville, fully explored this place. Eric Baden has also taught me to strive for my personal best and will usually accept nothing less.

Aside from Academics and Work, the Service-Learning aspect of the Triad has also been a valuable part of my college experience.

…second semester of my freshman year, I found the perfect service project for me. I have been attending games night at Presbyterian Homes for Children for over three years now, and I am still as terrible at sports as when I began. Fortunately, being good is not really the point; in fact, I think the kids like that I suck so much (it makes them look good). Sometimes the kids will talk about things or seek counsel from me, but more often they just want to have fun. I think that my continued presence there makes more of a difference than any individual conversation or bit of advice given ever could. Now, some of the kids who were wee freshman, when we were also, are getting ready to graduate high school.

As for my future plans, I know that I want to stay in Asheville. This place is my home. Other than that, I have no future plans, and my well-rounded liberal arts experience has given me the strength and confidence to know that not knowing exactly is okay.

RH