Ta-ta for now

While the Admissions team has dutifully pursued the week’s work, graduating students have inched ever closer to the day when they will leave the Fletcher nest.  I pause now and then to think about the people I’ll miss from the Class of 2017.  There are our Graduate Assistants, Dristy and Ashley.  And our student bloggers, Adnan, McKenzie, and Tatsuo.  But the list runs much longer than that: Admissions volunteers and interviewers, student members of the Admissions Committee, PhD students who have contributed so much to the community, students I interviewed when they were applicants and whose progress I’ve noted from behind the scenes.  And more!

This is an annual theme for us.  We know that the Hall of Flags will suddenly empty out one May week when exams are over, but we still forget that our connection to the students we’ve gotten to know will suddenly be from a distance.  Sigh.

It’s all good, though.  They’ll go off and do great stuff, and helping them take the first step toward a new career is the mission of the Admissions Office.

I’ll be at Commencement on Sunday and I’m looking forward to the joyous/wistful day that I know it will be.  The soon-to-be graduates line up in alphabetical order before the processional heads toward the graduation tent, and I’ll wander along the line to say some goodbyes and hand out some hugs.  After the ceremony, I’ll say some more goodbyes and greet a few parents.  And then on Monday, the Admissions team will return to the office and continue the work of helping the Class of 2019 and those that follow to take their first steps toward a new career.

To the Class of 2017: Please keep in touch with us!  Come to visit, connect on social media, drop a line now and then.  Ta-ta for now, but we hope to hear from you soon!