Dartmouth 2002 Five-Year Reunion

Celebrity Sighting Report: The first day, Friday, I arrived extremely early - the Wilsons dropped me off in front of the dorm, Topliff, and so I spent the morning wandering casually around. Waiting in line at the Hopkins Center for a blitz computer, a current student turned to me and asked when Clinton was arriving. That's how I discovered that Hillary Clinton was speaking at Dartmouth that afternoon, and how I managed to be in the garden outside the Hop when she addressed us on the topic of stem cell research, which she supports and hopes to get federal funding for. Interesting. Her main point was that she believed that science, reason and logic were being abandoned in the government and she is the one to bring it back.

Reunion was a pleasant surprise. I guess I went just hoping to hang out on the green again and see a few people I'd lost touch of; I hadn't expected there to be as many people as there were (nearly half of our graduating class, i.e. 500 grads plus various significant others) and so many of them old friends. It was overwhelming - moving from moments of intense social interaction at meals that went something like this: meet one friend, try to encompass five years of experience in a five minute conversation, then see another over his/her shoulder, run off to greet and hug that friend, repeat action until stumble off into corner to reflect.

I felt as though four years of self-searching were collapsed in this two-day retreat, since each group of friends -- distinctly cohesive -- represented a different year or different term in my college career, a different stage in my life or in my self-identification. At reunion, I was a satellite to these groups, floating between them and feeling both part of and apart from each. I used to be somewhat proud of not belonging to any one "group," but there's something to be said for feeling fully part of a group, which is what I have here at Bread Loaf and is what keeps me stable in the midst of this chaotic summer.

I loved seeing everyone again and luckily got to spend more time with a few friends in New York and Boston after the condensed weekend. Pictures below!




Teresa and Acovio the first morning




With Acovio and Vikram at the final dinner




With Sabeen, Aly and his wife ... Zaileen?




With Vik, Barbara and her husband Leon, the latter two visiting from the Netherlands. Barbara's new last name (from de Kruijf) is de Barbarason, so yes, that makes her Barbara de Barbarason. It was meant to be!




Relaxing on the Green in front of Sanborn Library on a steamy afternoon: Me, Sabeen, Robert, Dara and Jen