Saturday, May 16, 2009

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going..." --Sills

The past four years at SMC have been some of the best years of my life - I have made incredible friends, developed immensely in the classroom and grown, changed and matured almost immeasurably. SMC was far from a shortcut - I worked really hard, learned a lot and feel very prepared for the life which is ahead of me - and I know that my future is a place worth going.

Having a Bachelor of Arts degree in English is the supposedly the biggest result of the past four years, but I think that I've gotten so much more than just a piece of paper. The things that I appreciate most are the friendships, memories and skills that I have acquired at SMC. I learned Western Calligraphy, West African Drumming, fiction writing, ancient philosophy, meteorology, Spanish, critical thinking, effective communication skills and so much more. I studied in France, did service both domestically and internationally, lived with and learned from amazing roommates and friends and worked harder than I thought possible to complete all of the requirements for graduation. I've looked up to incredible role models, especially in the admissions office, MOVE office and English department, and I hope that I've set a positive example for those who will come after me. This has been a challenging, wonderful experience and although I feel completely ready to move on and start something new, I feel blessed by each and every experience, interaction and piece of knowledge.

I've loved writing this blog for the past two and a half years. It's reminded me how lucky I am to have all of the opportunities that I do, and I hope that it has been helpful to you, whoever you may be. I appreciate all of my loyal readers and I'm sad to say goodbye! However, I'm off to good places - as I wrote a few weeks back, I will be spending my summer on Lake Fairlee in Post Mills, VT as a camp counselor and will then be an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer at the Middlebury College Alliance for Civic Engagement Office for a year starting at the end of August. I'll also be taking some time to celebrate graduation down in Florida before I start my job at camp with my best friend from high school, Kristin - I'll be making my first trip to Disneyworld (better late than never, right?) and am looking forward to spending a week relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather and spending time with a really good old friend.

If I can, I'll keep writing, and I hope you'll keep reading! Life is good, and I am headed to a place very much worth going. Thanks for reading.

Very Sincerely,
Carrie

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Carrie!
Great blog! SMC is losing a wonderful student, leader, and most of all person... BUT as we can all see, you are off to do great things! Congratulations on the job and I am happy to see that you will be close and can come back to make multiple visits (and possibly do another tour or two!). Thanks for all you have done for SMC, you will be GREATLY missed by all!

- Conor