Hamilton College Admission Journals: Josh Meah

The Last Entry

Wed, 26 May 2010 12:47:06 GMT

Graduation has been over for roughly 92 hours (yes, three days and 20 hours), and I already feel far more grateful for the Hamilton experience than I expected. I knew my experience was valuable, but I didn't realize how practical and impactful it would be in the short-term.

I'm currently in D.C. looking for an apartment with my girlfriend, a graduate from Hamilton. Since numerous friends of mine from Hamilton will be moving into the area, I don't expect to ever feel lonely. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to go about my beat (in journalism, the subject covered is called one's beat), but I do have ample connections with Washingtonians in think-tanks, as a result of spending a semester in D.C. with Hamilton's D.C. program. I've also met fantastic journalists (i.e. Chris Hedges, et al) when they visited the Hamilton campus, and I'm hoping that experience can turn into a fruitful conversation and connection.

If I absolutely need one, Hamilton currently has an apartment available in the area that is available to alumni (geez...that's me...). That's a relief -- so if I don't find my ideal apartment whereever I am looking, I do have a place in the area in a great location to fall back on. Still though, my search is turning out well, and I'm not expecting to need to rely on that apartment -- cross your fingers...

Some of my best friends from Hamilton will be either working or studying somewhere in the Northeast, which will make NYC, Boston, and all other prominent cities in the Northeast far more accessible.

...But...at the moment it still is a bit overwhelming to realize the four years are over. I'm not the same person I was when I first walked onto the Hamilton campus. I'm far more critically aware of my surroundings and I feel I am a much better speaker, writer and thinker in general than I ever could have expected. My recent past is colored with worldly experiences that are unique to me and were made uniquely available to me by Hamilton. It's a tough job market to be let loose into, but my resume is a competitive one, and that's because of the opportunities I was provided by Hamilton.

It's going to be weird not waking up and knocking on the doors of my best friends (many of which were adjacent to mine) on the way to breakfast, and I don't know how well I'll adjust to non-Hamilton life, if only because I've pursued it only limitedly.

I'm excited though, and three days after graduation, I can already feel that those four years of my life at Hamilton will likely be regarded in the days to come as four of my best.

To Hamilton -- thanks for everything.

To my readers -- thanks for listening.

This is my last entry.

End Scene.
(The crowd rises, the back doors open, a bright light shows through, the sound of the city re-emerges, and they walk collectively back into the real world...)

- Josh

Graduation Day

Wed, 26 May 2010 12:30:16 GMT

We all knew it was coming, but we didn't expect the procession to be so grand or the emotions to run so high. I don't think it was possible to expect exactly how the experience would turn out -- we would only graduate from Hamilton once, and this would be it.

We all lined up in our respective caps and gowns (tassles intact for most of us) and awaited the signal of the bagpipe band. See, the procession began with a bagpipe band -- a very talented one -- leading the way. As we filled in the Field House and saw the front of the room on two very large monitors in front of us and an eager crowd surrounding us, we knew that something grand was going to happen.

Sitting down in alphabetical order, we watched as a stage filled with Hamilton trustees, President Stewart, and other members of the faculty and administration stared back at us proudly.

Corinne Bancroft, a member of the senior class, received a special prize that recognized the Hamilton student who represented the ideals of the college and delivered a speech that was critical of Hamilton but also optimistic as it cited Hamilton's substantial progress in creating greater economic and cultural diversity on campus.

Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric and the parent of Sarah Immelt -- another member of my class -- delivered a fantastic and inspiring speech that argued the most successful graduates would be those willing to be innovative through action, not just thinking, and those willing to be humble in the learning process.

Shortly thereafter, each Hamilton graduate walked on stage individually, receiving his or her degree from President Stewart and their traditional cane as well.

Congratulations are in order to Phil Milner and Kevin Rowe, the senior class's salutatorian and valedictorian respectively. Next year, Phil will be enrolled in a Ph.D. program at MIT (chemical biology, I think) and Kevin will be traveling the world on a Watson Fellowship, completing a study on international cuisines.

As the procession ended and each Hamilton graduate reviewed the paper in their hands that was to somehow capture four glorious years, we stood up and sang Carissima, Hamilton's song.

We then received our blessing from President Stewart and were again ushered by the bagpipers who led us through a line of our professors, each of whom was clapping and cheering for the class of 2010.

As we met with our families, took our graduation photos and took mental photos of the last time we'd all be together as a class, I'm sure it hit us all that we really just had finished the beginning of the end.

And just like that -- 22 years after birth -- life suddenly became far more open-ended.

...what a day...

Senior Week

Wed, 26 May 2010 12:05:01 GMT

Senior week is notoriously full of fun, silliness and occasionally tears. It is the final week of the year for seniors prior to graduation, and is filled with all types of events that draw that the entire class together. There are no classes and no obligations that week for 99.9% of the senior class. Consequently, it's all about appreciating the Hamilton experience that will soon be ending and enjoying your friends.

Our (as in all of the seniors) senior week consisted first of a formal dance and then a slew of crazy fun events. The dance itself, I hear, was wonderful (yours truly was stuck finishing a thesis at that time -- but that's my fault and no one else's). For those looking for a mental image of the event, think prom. It was JUST like that, but with less adult supervision and more conversations about what you will do when you enter the real world in a week.

Other events included (but are not limited to) Mojitos and Tex-Mex, which was held at Minor Field, a dance party that included a mechanical bull, a class-wide lobster and steak dinner, and a temporary situation in which the entire grass quad in front of Kirkland residence hall (my dorm :) ) was taken over by inflatable fun stuff. By inflatable fun stuff, I mean large sumo wrestler outfits, an inflatable obstacle course, and an inflatable room to bounce on and play volleyball on. In short, it's a fantastic time.

The tears creep up on you when you realize that the end of your Hamilton time is near, which means your friends will no longer be conveniently nearby, you will no longer be enrolled in a set of fascinating classes, and -- I suppose most importantly -- you will no longer be living and experiencing the environment that had transformed you for the better over the past four years.

Overall, senior week is probably one of the most unforgettable weeks of the Hamilton experience.

Finals Week

Wed, 12 May 2010 15:04:47 GMT

My honors thesis was submitted last Friday. I feel pretty good about it, and I will find out soon whether the thesis itself will receive honors recognition or not. I feel like that paper could have gone on forever -- it could have been a book. Instead it's roughly 70 pages of raw undergraduate academic analysis -- a non-starter for a book but a great exercise for the Ph.D program I hope to enroll in.

After I submitted the thesis, I pretty much faded out into whatever non-academic space I could find... at least until Sunday.

My final in Hindi took place yesterday from 12 to 4 p.m. I think I did well, but it was definitely exhausting. I've been preparing for this exam for weeks now, and I was up from 6 a.m. onward yesterday doing Hindi -- that's about 10 hours of non-English. That's...well...like being back in India. There was an oral, written and video component (and the video component was also oral).

After I finished the exam, I took some books out from the library that are relevant to the four papers that I need to write by Friday.

At 6 p.m. yesterday, out of total exhaustion, I and a few friends of mine decided to cut the rough day at the knees. We did so by dropping whatever work we had and dissappearing into my room to play Left for Dead on Xbox 360 for about 3 hours or so. It's an awesome zombie killing game and a great way to de-stress.

Some of my friends are overdoing it on the coffee at the moment...I'd suggest taking the pressure of finals out on zombies rather than the heart...but such is the way of finals week...

Caffeine or the undead? You choose.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, yea -- I'm graduating in 11 days! OMG.

I'll save that sensation for a different blog entry...

Class and Charter Day

Wed, 12 May 2010 14:47:36 GMT

On Class and Charter day, Hamilton holds a ceremony to award a select group of students a number of awards and prizes based on their academic achievements and overall contributions to the Hamilton campus.

I was awarded the "was established by Constantine Karamanlis, Class of 1998, and his family. The prize honors the memory of Mr. Karamanlis' uncle, the former President of Greece, Constantine Karamanlis. The prize is awarded to the outstanding senior concentrator in world politics."