I had to save the highlight of Alumni Weekend until the end. Kevin proposed to me on Friday night, ensuring that it would be one of the best weekends of my life.
Kevin and I started dating about halfway through our senior year at Mudd - right after football season ended. Although we spent a lot of time together and fell in love during our last few months in college, we had agreed that the relationship would end when college did. We would be living in different states (Colorado and Virginia) and looking for jobs. If we found work in the same city that would be wonderful, but we decided to prioritize our careers above our relationship.
After graduation I got in my car, newly single, and began the long drive home.
It took about a week for us to realize that we hadn't really succeeded at breaking up. We were still talking every day and before long we were making plans to visit each other while we continued to apply and interview for jobs. Since we were still both looking locally, we soon found jobs in our respective states.
By the fall it seemed like the long-distance thing was going to be indefinite. We broke things off again, because it seemed like a long distance relationship would be too hard to maintain. We kept in touch but focused on creating separate lives.
Eventually we realized that however hard a long-distance relationship was, not being in a relationship at all was even harder. Kevin came to visit Colorado in June, and we began seeing each other more regularly again. About a year after we'd called things off we decided to give it another go. It wasn't too much longer before I moved out to Virginia and found work in DC.
When we got back to Mudd on Friday, Danielle made a comment about the last time she'd been back at North Dorm, and I promptly stuck my foot in my mouth by reminding Kevin that the last time I'd been there we had broken up. I felt bad, but my comment did remind him to go back to the hotel and grab the ring he'd bought.
Later that night we bought beer for the current residents of the dorm and decided to play some beer pong. After we'd set up our side and were waiting for Danielle and Eric to finish pouring their beer, Kevin told me he had to show me something. He took me back behind the dorm where he said "This is where we met. It's where we fell in love. And it's where we broke up. We should never do that again." Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
In true North style, we immediately went back to play some beer pong. We lost the game, possibly because I was too excited to really concentrate on it (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Then word of our engagement began spreading among our class.
I'm really happy we were able to tell so many people in person and celebrate with everyone. On Saturday night Danielle organized a surprise engagement party, which of course included more beer pong. The entire evening was perfectly reminiscent of the countless nights we spent playing beer pong and hanging out in North Dorm. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect engagement story.
Showing posts with label Alumni Weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alumni Weekend. Show all posts
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Alumni Weekend: Events
Half the fun of alumni weekend was all the official events. This is where we got a chance to catch up with all the people we actually hadn't seen since college. A lot of the graduate students are getting close to finishing up their PhDs (and mostly didn't want to talk about it). A ton of people from our class have gotten married. It was so much fun to hear about what everyone was up to.
The first event we attended was a wine tasting. There's nothing like booze to attract people and get them talking. This happened shortly after we arrived, so it's where we started running into the people we'd be seeing all weekend. Saying hi to everyone was fun. It was also amusing to see the older alumni and guess which college they had attended. A lot of the time it was incredibly obvious. The balding dudebros checking out all the girls were from CMC. The group of little old ladies in matching skirts were from Scripps. The aging hippies with dreadlocks and no attention span were from Pitzer. It was fun, and a little strange, to see how much the stereotypes of the various colleges hold throughout life.
On Saturday we went to a Yelp-sponsored event were we could mingle with current students and talk about what we're using our degrees for. But it turned into more catching up with old friends. A lot of local people seemed to only have come up for Saturday events, so they wouldn't have to take Friday off from work.
After that wrapped up, Kevin and I wandered down to Academics which had been painted and spruced up a lot since we were students. It looked really nice, though it still seems like cheating that the current students get maps of the underground academic compound. We had to figure that out through trial and error.
In the mid afternoon we wandered over to the rugby field for the official unofficial game of beerball. But despite Kevin's best efforts to get a game going, it was mostly just people standing around drinking beer until we had to leave for the official class picture. The picture ended up being a lot of fun. It was impressive how much of our class showed up for the reunion. Nearly 100 people were around, roughly 2/3 of our graduating class.
After the picture there was another wine social followed by the class dinner. The novelty of dining hall food was okay, though I was reminded why I always avoided it on steak night. After dinner, President Klawe came to make a speech, which was fantastic. She was so drunk she was having trouble standing and ended up holding on to one of the space heaters for support. She gave the shortest speech I've ever heard her make and let us get back to our revelry.
There were a few events on Sunday that I would have liked to attend, like the five class competition and the alumni inner tube water polo game. But travel plans meant we didn't really have time to go to campus. Perhaps next time we'll be able to stay a bit longer.
The first event we attended was a wine tasting. There's nothing like booze to attract people and get them talking. This happened shortly after we arrived, so it's where we started running into the people we'd be seeing all weekend. Saying hi to everyone was fun. It was also amusing to see the older alumni and guess which college they had attended. A lot of the time it was incredibly obvious. The balding dudebros checking out all the girls were from CMC. The group of little old ladies in matching skirts were from Scripps. The aging hippies with dreadlocks and no attention span were from Pitzer. It was fun, and a little strange, to see how much the stereotypes of the various colleges hold throughout life.
On Saturday we went to a Yelp-sponsored event were we could mingle with current students and talk about what we're using our degrees for. But it turned into more catching up with old friends. A lot of local people seemed to only have come up for Saturday events, so they wouldn't have to take Friday off from work.
After that wrapped up, Kevin and I wandered down to Academics which had been painted and spruced up a lot since we were students. It looked really nice, though it still seems like cheating that the current students get maps of the underground academic compound. We had to figure that out through trial and error.
In the mid afternoon we wandered over to the rugby field for the official unofficial game of beerball. But despite Kevin's best efforts to get a game going, it was mostly just people standing around drinking beer until we had to leave for the official class picture. The picture ended up being a lot of fun. It was impressive how much of our class showed up for the reunion. Nearly 100 people were around, roughly 2/3 of our graduating class.
After the picture there was another wine social followed by the class dinner. The novelty of dining hall food was okay, though I was reminded why I always avoided it on steak night. After dinner, President Klawe came to make a speech, which was fantastic. She was so drunk she was having trouble standing and ended up holding on to one of the space heaters for support. She gave the shortest speech I've ever heard her make and let us get back to our revelry.
There were a few events on Sunday that I would have liked to attend, like the five class competition and the alumni inner tube water polo game. But travel plans meant we didn't really have time to go to campus. Perhaps next time we'll be able to stay a bit longer.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Alumni Weekend: Food
The thing I was most looking forward to about Alumni Weekend was all the food that I ate constantly in college and have been missing for the past five years.
The first order of business was a Patty's burrito. This was so important that we actually went to Patty's first, before we even went to the hotel to check in. And it was just as good as I remembered, which was a relief. I'd been worried that I was somehow building the burritos up in my mind or that things would have changed in the last five years. I shouldn't have worried. The burritos were so good that we went there again the next day for lunch.
On Friday night, per Kevin's request, we went to Hero's for enormous burgers and beers. This was a necessary trip to celebrate the end of Zach's vegetarian ways. We took him there for his first burger during senior year of college, and it only took him one bite to declare his past self an idiot for avoiding red meat for so many years. We also celebrated our friend Autumn's recovery from vegetarianism, though she got a chicken salad rather than a burger. The food was delicious, but it was way too much for me to actually finish.
Just before heading to the airport on Sunday, Sarah, Zach, and I walked over to 21 Choices for frozen yogurt. Although froyo has become more of a national thing since I was in college and there are a bunch of good places in Virginia, it was nice to head back to the place were I first discovered the frozen treat that my lactose intolerance doesn't interfere with.
We did end up missing a few places because the weekend was simply too short. I didn't get animal fries from In'n'Out or pad thai from Mix Bowl, the place that delivered until two in the morning. It would have been nice to get to Bombay Bistro, but it also would have been a logistical nightmare. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the food I did get. Although now I think I'll be full for the rest of the week.
The first order of business was a Patty's burrito. This was so important that we actually went to Patty's first, before we even went to the hotel to check in. And it was just as good as I remembered, which was a relief. I'd been worried that I was somehow building the burritos up in my mind or that things would have changed in the last five years. I shouldn't have worried. The burritos were so good that we went there again the next day for lunch.
On Friday night, per Kevin's request, we went to Hero's for enormous burgers and beers. This was a necessary trip to celebrate the end of Zach's vegetarian ways. We took him there for his first burger during senior year of college, and it only took him one bite to declare his past self an idiot for avoiding red meat for so many years. We also celebrated our friend Autumn's recovery from vegetarianism, though she got a chicken salad rather than a burger. The food was delicious, but it was way too much for me to actually finish.
Just before heading to the airport on Sunday, Sarah, Zach, and I walked over to 21 Choices for frozen yogurt. Although froyo has become more of a national thing since I was in college and there are a bunch of good places in Virginia, it was nice to head back to the place were I first discovered the frozen treat that my lactose intolerance doesn't interfere with.
We did end up missing a few places because the weekend was simply too short. I didn't get animal fries from In'n'Out or pad thai from Mix Bowl, the place that delivered until two in the morning. It would have been nice to get to Bombay Bistro, but it also would have been a logistical nightmare. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the food I did get. Although now I think I'll be full for the rest of the week.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Alumni Weekend: Traveling
This past weekend Kevin and I went back to Harvey Mudd for Alumni Weekend and our five year reunion. The weekend itself was an absolute blast. But getting there and back was an absolute nightmare. It's enough to make me want to avoid air travel for a good, long time. Or maybe just United.
On Friday, we were scheduled on a 7 AM flight to San Francisco, followed by a 3 hour layover and then a quick flight down to LA. On the way to the airport we found out that the 7 AM flight had been canceled and we were moved to an 8 AM flight. The switch meant that we didn't have seats together. Instead, we both had middle seats.
All in all it wasn't the end of the world. But between the flight switch, only getting five hours of sleep, and learning that the restaurant I'd been counting on for breakfast wasn't open I was pretty stressed out. On the plus side we only had to sit in the San Francisco airport for two hours.
Flying home was even worse. The flight we were supposed to take from LA to Denver was stuck in San Francisco because of weather problems there. The Ontario airport is small enough that we there was no possibility of getting switched to a different plane. We just had to wait for the original one to get there.
By the time the flight was two hours late, the lady at the gate made an announcement that some people would be missing their connections. If this happened to us we had the option of staying in California for another night or getting a hotel in Denver and getting on the first flight in the morning. While a night in Denver wouldn't have been the end of the world, I didn't really want to extend our travel time so much.
Luckily the plane finally landed and we arrived in Denver with just enough time to run across the terminal to our second flight. If that plane hadn't been delayed as well, we probably would have missed it, but we got in just under the wire. The flight was even empty enough that Kevin and I had a row all to ourselves.
We finally got home around 2:30 in the morning, and I proceeded to sleep until 10. I can't even remember the last time I slept so late (which is actually a little weird for me). I'm glad I took Monday off from work to have a day to recover from all that stress.
Like I said, the travel was a nightmare, but the weekend itself couldn't have been better. I guess that's a trade off I'm willing to make. Even if I am slightly dreading our next trip to California in August. At least those flights will be on Southwest, which I've had a lot more luck with than United.
On Friday, we were scheduled on a 7 AM flight to San Francisco, followed by a 3 hour layover and then a quick flight down to LA. On the way to the airport we found out that the 7 AM flight had been canceled and we were moved to an 8 AM flight. The switch meant that we didn't have seats together. Instead, we both had middle seats.
All in all it wasn't the end of the world. But between the flight switch, only getting five hours of sleep, and learning that the restaurant I'd been counting on for breakfast wasn't open I was pretty stressed out. On the plus side we only had to sit in the San Francisco airport for two hours.
Flying home was even worse. The flight we were supposed to take from LA to Denver was stuck in San Francisco because of weather problems there. The Ontario airport is small enough that we there was no possibility of getting switched to a different plane. We just had to wait for the original one to get there.
By the time the flight was two hours late, the lady at the gate made an announcement that some people would be missing their connections. If this happened to us we had the option of staying in California for another night or getting a hotel in Denver and getting on the first flight in the morning. While a night in Denver wouldn't have been the end of the world, I didn't really want to extend our travel time so much.
Luckily the plane finally landed and we arrived in Denver with just enough time to run across the terminal to our second flight. If that plane hadn't been delayed as well, we probably would have missed it, but we got in just under the wire. The flight was even empty enough that Kevin and I had a row all to ourselves.
We finally got home around 2:30 in the morning, and I proceeded to sleep until 10. I can't even remember the last time I slept so late (which is actually a little weird for me). I'm glad I took Monday off from work to have a day to recover from all that stress.
Like I said, the travel was a nightmare, but the weekend itself couldn't have been better. I guess that's a trade off I'm willing to make. Even if I am slightly dreading our next trip to California in August. At least those flights will be on Southwest, which I've had a lot more luck with than United.
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