In college, you think of May as a finish line of sorts. You’re wrapping up final exams, going over that fourth draft of a paper, and eventually packing up all you own to head off to some great summer experience. The last moment of academic finality for me came when I walked through my suite, empty of all the decorations and personalities I’d come to love during the year. And with that, I dramatically drove off into the sunset with home on my mind and another year at Yale in the books.
Less than two weeks later, I found myself driving right on back to open an entirely new chapter at Yale: summer edition. While the beginning of May feels like the end of the line, the rest of the month sees a whirlwind of activity that begets a new life at Yale with the new season. In the two weeks that I was gone, my friends in the class of 2016 graduated to full-fledged adults, the Dramat put on a Commencement show, and Yale was hosting thousands of friends and family from all over the world.
What brought me back, however, was the upcoming reunion season at Yale. At the end of May and early June, Yale welcomes thousands of returning alumni back to campus for a weekend of fun, reconnecting, and getting reacquainted with an ever-changing Yale. The secret heroes of the weekends, if I do say so myself, are the Yale students who sign up to stay on campus to work those reunions.
The first day of reunions, all the students get assigned to teams based on reunion years. This past weekend, I worked the 50th reunion and sat at my team’s table to find that half of the team just happened to be friends of mine. Throughout the weekend, it was amazing to work collectively on a project in the absence of any academic motives.
And the students I didn’t already know, I quickly befriended just by virtue of spending so many hours together. The job mostly included hospitality and checking people in, but the best parts came in the moments in between formal events. When alums would meander into reunion headquarters, they would often share with us hilarious, sometimes unbelievable, stories from their time at Yale.
Sometimes I was shocked at how similar some of their experiences were to my own. A lot of times, their stories made me acutely aware of just how much Yale has changed. With the class of 1966 in particular, I was fascinated by the conversations surrounding making Yale a coeducational institution that happened during their time. I wondered what campus movements and efforts I would have to share at my 50th reunion.
During the weekend, the staples of Yale life during the academic year, like bass café and library were near ghost-towns, but just above on cross campus there were groups of alums socializing with old friends and new.
It was so incredible to see people who have been separated by both time and distance come back together with one just thing in common: Yale. Between the persistence of relationships and the extravagant events I’ve seen, my time working reunions this year has made me excited not only to go to Yale now but also to return and continue to watch how the campus changes.
