From Tribe to Hokie
Officially, I am a graduate of the College of William and Mary, class of 1995. I spent many a weekend, however, especially my senior year, some five hours away at Virginia Tech with my friends John and Tony.
I was always jealous of the spirit of that college community -- something I never found at William and Mary -- and perhaps in an unconscious way, tried to find that spirit the year following graduation, where I worked for a year at minimum wage at Tech's off-campus bookstore. It was certainly an interesting year, and I made many more friends that year working as a cashier -- including my first true queer friends -- than I probably ever will again. The entire experience, for better or for worse, shaped who I am and the values I have today.
The events of April 16 made me revisit that time in my life once more. I won't add to what are surely thousands of LJ and other blog entries about the tragedy, many of which have had a much more profound impact than my one-year quasi-experience ever could.
But still...
I was always jealous of the spirit of that college community -- something I never found at William and Mary -- and perhaps in an unconscious way, tried to find that spirit the year following graduation, where I worked for a year at minimum wage at Tech's off-campus bookstore. It was certainly an interesting year, and I made many more friends that year working as a cashier -- including my first true queer friends -- than I probably ever will again. The entire experience, for better or for worse, shaped who I am and the values I have today.
The events of April 16 made me revisit that time in my life once more. I won't add to what are surely thousands of LJ and other blog entries about the tragedy, many of which have had a much more profound impact than my one-year quasi-experience ever could.
But still...