Sesquicentennial

March 14, 2011 - Los Angeles, California

So I've been up and down California these past few days. I was up in Fresno visiting my friend J for the past 3 days (two of which were spent mostly driving). We went to see the giant Sequoias in Sequoia National Park. That was quite something! I was surprised at how huge they were. It seems inconceivable to me that nature can make something so naturally tall.
Well, not really, but they were still really impressive.



I also got to drive through the winding mountain roads at 45 mi/hour (around 70-80 km/hr) with some truly spectacular landscapes around me - the kind only seen in Argentina (and maybe Sweden?). it is just amazing because you don't traditionally think of California having these landscapes. California is usually associated with beaches and surfing and whatnot but not with giant trees and snowy mountain landscapes.



I drove back to LA early the next morning (or attempted to) and was back in the city by 2:30 pm. I had in that short time span managed to lose my Diners Club AAdvantage Credit Card at the gas station I stopped to refuel at. That was the beginning of a few very stressful few days that i will get into more detail later. But after sorting out the credit card thing, I showered and got ready at full speed and went to Vassar's Sesquicentennial event at the Getty Center. I was 10 minutes late but still managed to get a good seat. Vassar Alum Lisa Kudrow '85 was hosting the event and this marked the second time in which I've been 20 meters away from her without actually meeting her (the first was graduation upon receiving my diploma last May). She's really funny and a good speaker and you can tell she's really smart - the quintessential Vassar girl really. Determined...
It is funny. As I heard her speak about Vassar and also when I heard her speak on NPR's program Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me last week, I felt that connection as a fellow Vassar Alum. It really is about an attitude towards life that makes us successful and daring and groundbreaking. The sesquicentennial event was a celebration of that - a celebration of the value of the liberal arts education we received and the celebration of the fight to continue to propagate it and give new generations access to it. The value of the Vassar education, as Vassar College President Catherine "Cappy" Hill aptly put it, is not often recognized by those who haven't experienced it. In fact, you really don't recognize its value until you've left the ivy-covered walls of the campus and begin to experience the real world. I think that my appreciation for it grew exponentially upon leaving and looking back at what I've accomplished in my short time away from it and my attitude towards the times that I've failed at things. I keep at it - I keep at it in a strategic way.
That's important!
Success (financial) will come eventually, but for now, I am proud of the person I am and am becoming and what I fight for.
Can't ask for anything better, right?

Categories: california, college, J, LA, sesquicentennial, Vassar