The greatest challenge of a student representative of the College to Middlebury’s alumni is to capture in writing what makes Middlebury such a special place, finding the right words to evoke simultaneously both the alumni’s memories of the past and a current student’s impressions of the present. Although our Middlebury experiences are separated in time and, especially because Midd alumni are spread all over the globe, our day-to-day lives are now separated by great space, the common Middlebury experiences we all share are no less substantial. Middlebury enjoys change, in its students, teachers, and building, but the longer that I am here, the more I appreciate that there is nonetheless a constant to Middlebury that is truly special.

That I even think of myself right now “here” at Middlebury underscores how Middlebury is more than just a beautiful campus and cozy dorm room looking out at the Green Mountains in Vermont or even a discrete time period of a time. At this moment, I am in Hangzhou, China, spending my winter and spring terms at the C.V. Starr-Middlebury School in China. Though thousands of miles from Middlebury, Vermont, I feel no less a part of the Middlebury campus, and no less close to my friends spread over the globe, much the same way Midd alums are. No doubt being away from Vermont makes me especially appreciative of how for alumni the Middlebury experience can stay with you long after graduation.

Being here in Hangzhou is also a ready reminder of the tremendous influence Middlebury has already had on my life, after only two and one half years. I came to Middlebury with no knowledge of the language of Chinese. Now, I am travelling around China completely conversant in Mandarin and enjoying each and every day of my time here. This summer, I hope to work at the Olympics but also recently received a Midd grant to do environmental research during the summer here for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which will use both my Mandarin and the knowledge I gained this past fall of geographic information systems (GIS) in my geography class (tough, but amazing!). Yes, the classes at Middlebury are demanding (Chinese summer school was brutal!), but the returns are spectacular.

While studying abroad, I’ve also come to appreciate even better the uniqueness of the academic and social environment that Midd provides. Where else do you find undergraduates with limitless opportunities to study with world-famous academics? Where else do you regularly witness and participate in legitimate debates occurring between professors and students, with both sides fairly questioning each other’s reasoning? Certainly not here in China, where to question a teacher on a matter of principle is not just unruly, but, for some, may be the end of an academic career.

Middlebury is a wonderfully different and in ways that I am only now beginning to appreciate. It is the kind of place where, as a first-year, a tenured professor of 25 years came to my dorm to make sure I was alright after I had missed class that day (and thankfully this student was actually in his dorm room sick!). It is the kind of place where I can for the first time belong to a rock band that brings together students of completely different backgrounds and aspirations, but who share a common love of creating music together late at night when the studying is over. And it is the kind of place where, again as first-years, a group of students can spontaneously create a new campus sport (Quidditch) that has since spread throughout the campus and even reached other schools, allowing for Midd to hose the first “World Cup” of Quidditch this past fall (my roommate, a cross-country runner, serves as “the Snitch”).

Midd is the kind of place that can and does change lives, as it already has my own. And, I expect, is the kind of place that continues to influence the lives of a lot of amazing alumni long after graduate.

That’s special.