I felt senioritis hit me hard these past two weeks. At the 100 Days til Graduation event, I heard professors speak about what Stevens will mean to me, and how we are an exceptional class as the COVID year. For President’s Day weekend, I took a trip to Boston and New Haven to visit family and friends that I haven’t caught up with in years. I came back from that weekend tired and off-schedule; I skipped some lower-priority commitments to devote my energy into the responsibilities that I wasn’t able to shirk off. Then it was Founders’ Day Ball, where I was able to socialize with most of the people I know throughout the university over cocktails and Taylor Swift songs. This past weekend, I tabled at Admitted Students’ Day and tried to help students picture their time here.
In visiting my family, I envisioned my retired life. I visited the Boston Public Library, ate homemade soup, talked about current events, practiced my golf swing, and saw my aunt’s art assignments from the classes she takes. I disconnected from my life in Hoboken, and what remained was truly meaningful to me. I told them about my research, my social and political philosophy class, and my writing in The Stute: the person I’ve developed outside of my major because that is who you take to the world around you. I feel like four years of education has allowed me to develop my own idea of success.
I left Boston and my family members to visit a hometown friend at Yale University that I haven’t seen since our senior year of high school was cut off in March 2020. I took the train into New Haven and explored on my own for a few hours until meeting up with her. I enjoyed the independence and self-reliance on my own two legs to get around New Haven, in no particular rush. I saw the architecture of Yale for the first time, a sprawling campus intentional in its planning and unchanged in many aspects from its original construction. There is a definite presence of historical significance. Even as an outsider, it’s easy to feel the connection to the centuries of alumni. I relayed four years of higher education in four hours to someone with a similar degree and background, who went through the same struggles of the pandemic in a different location. It was fascinating and enlightening to see what came to mind, to tell someone what I’ve learned about myself since the last time I’ve seen them.
Both in talking to family and old friends, I felt like I got a chance to show off the person I’ve been working on these last four years. A phrase I’ve been hearing a lot lately is, “You are a person first and a student second.” The reason many people choose Stevens is to make money; it is a financial investment into the future. By completing the degree, you will learn how to make money in many industries, but the point of higher education is to develop holistically as well. I can’t recommend enough taking or auditing courses from the humanities college. In technical courses, we don’t always get a chance to discuss the world around us, to consider social problems instead of engineering ones.
After returning from my weekend, I skipped a few classes but maintained the things that bring value into my day; my senior design project, research, The Stute, and seeing all my friends at Founders’ Day. These are the things that I will take with me from Stevens, what I feel proud of and what informs my idea of success. I’ll make an effort to be more on top of all of my commitments this week, but I feel satisfied in not just completing but enjoying the necessities. Then at Admitted Students’ Day I encouraged freshly minted adults to read the Stute, to envision their life here by looking at student culture and perspectives. When making my decision, I didn’t have as much of a chance to speak with upperclassmen in my major, and it was odd to feel like a spokesperson for the university like that. For some, I was just a college NPC, but I think for others I assuaged fears of academic struggles and social success. In my conversations and through my writing, I hope I can demonstrate how I have used my time at Stevens to shape the person I want to be.
