We're Everywhere
Sep. 11th, 2007 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrigirlI just had the most surreal experience.
Every fall the President of SLC holds an all faculty and staff meeting to talk about the the academic and financial goals of the College for the coming year. The Director of Admissions also talks about the incoming freshman class, and the Human Resources staff take the time to introduce all the new faculty and staff who have been hired over the summer. When their name is called, each new employee stands up and gets a nice little round of applause.
I always enjoy this meeting because everyone is in such high spirits. It's the beginning of the academic year and the optimism has yet to wear off. So, I'm sitting in the concert hall with some of my co-workers listening to our new President, Karen, talk about beginnings and traditions and dinner parties, when I spot a woman in the audience who looks a lot like Katy Biver. Of course, it isn't Katy Biver and I know that immediately, but it makes me think "Hmm, wouldn't it be funny if someone from Knox were to get up during the introductions?" It is merely a passing thought that disappears as quickly as it came.
Karen continues her speech. I listen. The crowd claps and laughs at all the appropriate times. And then we get to the new faculty introductions. The new philosophy profs each receive a round of applause, the new biology profs, etc. I've gotten to the point where my hands are on automatic when, while announcing the new psychology professors, I hear a name I know - Kim Ferguson. I look up and see the Kim Ferguson from Knox, that slim strawberry blonde from Malawi, stand up, receive applause, and sit back down.
"Oh my God," I say to one of my co-workers. "I went to college with her!" I am careful not to say "I know her" which would be a complete lie. I only know her by face and name. I have never had a conversation with her. We have never so much as said hello to one another. She would not have recognized me had I been the one to stand. But I'm just so excited to see another Knox person in the mix that I decide to go talk to her once the meeting is over.
And I do. I march right up to her and say, "Kim? From Knox College?" And when she answers in the affirmative I introduce myself. She says that I look a little familiar, which is gracious of her. We speak for a few minutes and she says we should have lunch some time. I agree, and we part ways. As anti-social as I am, I think I may have to shoot her an email in the coming weeks and suggest we make good on the deal. Because, even though I do not know her, and even though she was barely a spec on the screen of my college experience, she is a Knox alum and I find myself feeling a lot of warmth for Knox alums these days. She is extended family and I want to make her feel welcome.
Every fall the President of SLC holds an all faculty and staff meeting to talk about the the academic and financial goals of the College for the coming year. The Director of Admissions also talks about the incoming freshman class, and the Human Resources staff take the time to introduce all the new faculty and staff who have been hired over the summer. When their name is called, each new employee stands up and gets a nice little round of applause.
I always enjoy this meeting because everyone is in such high spirits. It's the beginning of the academic year and the optimism has yet to wear off. So, I'm sitting in the concert hall with some of my co-workers listening to our new President, Karen, talk about beginnings and traditions and dinner parties, when I spot a woman in the audience who looks a lot like Katy Biver. Of course, it isn't Katy Biver and I know that immediately, but it makes me think "Hmm, wouldn't it be funny if someone from Knox were to get up during the introductions?" It is merely a passing thought that disappears as quickly as it came.
Karen continues her speech. I listen. The crowd claps and laughs at all the appropriate times. And then we get to the new faculty introductions. The new philosophy profs each receive a round of applause, the new biology profs, etc. I've gotten to the point where my hands are on automatic when, while announcing the new psychology professors, I hear a name I know - Kim Ferguson. I look up and see the Kim Ferguson from Knox, that slim strawberry blonde from Malawi, stand up, receive applause, and sit back down.
"Oh my God," I say to one of my co-workers. "I went to college with her!" I am careful not to say "I know her" which would be a complete lie. I only know her by face and name. I have never had a conversation with her. We have never so much as said hello to one another. She would not have recognized me had I been the one to stand. But I'm just so excited to see another Knox person in the mix that I decide to go talk to her once the meeting is over.
And I do. I march right up to her and say, "Kim? From Knox College?" And when she answers in the affirmative I introduce myself. She says that I look a little familiar, which is gracious of her. We speak for a few minutes and she says we should have lunch some time. I agree, and we part ways. As anti-social as I am, I think I may have to shoot her an email in the coming weeks and suggest we make good on the deal. Because, even though I do not know her, and even though she was barely a spec on the screen of my college experience, she is a Knox alum and I find myself feeling a lot of warmth for Knox alums these days. She is extended family and I want to make her feel welcome.
