On campus

Door, Wesleyan Campus
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

Tonight I attended a concert on the Wesleyan campus, at Memorial Chapel. I'd never been in the Wesleyan chapel before, and I'm happy to report that it's lovely. I thought the concert was a Christmas concert before I went, but it really wasn't. In fact, the chorale sang selections from Carmina Burana, among other things, and I enjoyed the music very much.

Visiting a college campus always calls to my mind all those years I spent in college and graduate school. Of course, I never attended a small college like Wesleyan, but just being around college students and feeling that campus vibe is enough to bring back what my life was like back then. Classes, research, teaching, and lots of reading. Professors, grades, and the cycles of quarters or semesters.

I started college 20 years ago this year. I left graduate school 9 years ago. And it's strange to think that when I left in 1997, I left behind what had been my whole world for more than ten years. But it's true. And boy, has my life changed since then. These days, if I visit a college campus once a year, it's unusual.

Tonight when I was looking at the young people in the audience, I no longer found myself relating to them as peers in any way. Which I guess is appropriate, since I'll be 38 in just a few weeks. I may have defined myself as a student for the first half of my adult life, but I no longer feel like that definition fits. And that's a very big change.

I sometimes feel like I think a lot less than I used to. Like a door has closed, and I can't go back to the other side. But I've accomplished a lot in these last ten years, too. And overall, I think I've been a lot happier than I was in school. Maybe that's what happens when you don't think so much? If so, is it a good thing? Who knows?

More pictures from tonight at Wesleyan are up on my Flickr account.