Published in the Mountainview
It is the time of year when seniors write reminiscences of
their years at Middlebury. Usually published in the Campus, many of them are very happy with the circumstances and
surroundings of their college education. Many of them, however, will no doubt
have been open critics of the College at one time or another. Whence this
frustration, and then these happy memories?
Perhaps it is because Middlebury is such a nice place, with
so much to offer, that people are frustrated by its failure to achieve
perfection. Clearly, Middlebury is not a perfect place or a perfect college.
The people are not perfect, and the policies aren't either. But it is a fun
place, a welcoming place. It's close to perfection, in a number of ways of defining
the word. The mixed feelings may come from frustration of being somewhere so
close to perfect, and yet finding it, too, has imperfections.
President McCardell puts a great deal of stock in "what
it means to have gone to Middlebury." Perhaps this is because he knows
that the college years are a hard time in young lives. Putting a lot of work
into making "what it means to go to Middlebury" is as sure to
disappoint some as current efforts disappoint others. What matters from the
point of view of alumni relations and fundraising is that people remember
Middlebury fondly.
Frustration is driven by lack of control, more than anything
else. We have all laughed at the fridge magnet which reads "Teenagers,
leave home now — while you still know everything!" And yet, when in
college, we resent that stereotype and fight against it, just as in high
school.
College is a time to grow and develop in a nurturing environment.
Idealism remains, latent in the hearts and minds of intelligent youth. Realism
must be enforced, the world says: the young must learn.
The young, then, learn about the world, but are told that
they are not in it and are unready for it. Commencement may be the official
term, but most seniors feel more ready to graduate than they are to commence;
this is normal. College students wait for the "real world," failing
to realize that Middlebury is actually a fairly good model of the world most Middlebury
graduates will inhabit for their lifetimes.
People of a similar socioeconomic background, educational
level, and interests will surround Middlebury graduates. Forces and people of
control will not be easily seen or addressed. Other people's minds will prove
difficult to change; more learning will always need to be done. There is
some-times enough time for sleep, but then not enough for television.
Does, then, the contradiction of being both pleased with a
place and disappointed with it develop from the confusing situation of waiting
for the "real world" while it is just outside the door? Middlebury
students are quite well off, as colleges go, and they know it. Nothing is
perfect, this is true: perfection is an asymptote to life: however close you come,
you're never there.
Or is this duality of opinion from another source: that odd
contradiction which makes humans always wish for what we cannot have? Humans
tend to forget bad memories, to leave them behind. As good feelings and
memories come to life, as the world comes to life in spring, seniors feel a
sense of longing for the good times they once had.
Perhaps it is not whence this feeling comes that is
important; the feeling itself is worth quite a lot. Seniors will leave (some
will stay in the area; others will leave but return) and remember this place
and this college happily, and that is good. It is well that so many adults are
happy with their youth- fill decision to attend Middlebury. Growth does occur
here, and as frustrations and negative feelings melt with the winter snows,
seniors prepare to leave to enter what they will create as their "real
world." It is not perfect either.