The Tripod

I am writing this Sunday night. The Steelers just won their second Super Bowl in five years, which is somewhat annoying, but hey, if it couldn't have been the Pats (three in four years, by the way), at least it was the AFC. And, per usual, I was struggling for a topic, until I heard from outside my Vernon Street-facing window, the screams of girls. Happy screams, thankfully. As they continued, it became clear what was going on. The freshman a cappella concert was Friday. Tonight, then, was the famed pick-up night.

It is this type of tradition that makes me happy to have chosen a small college. It is the same type of feeling I have with many of the traditions in which I participate as a member of a fraternity. There is a sense of history associated with these types of rituals, in knowing that 50 years ago, some other brother of my fraternity was sitting in the same room as I live in, hearing pick-up on Vernon Street.

I look at old copies of the Trinity Ivy, and I see pictures taken through windows in Cook that belong to rooms where I have been to parties. I see pictures of Tripod staffs long past, and I see casual pictures on the Long Walk of students dressed not so dissimilarly from those of today. And then I see old Tripods in the Watkinson, or in our office's archives, and what strikes me is the acknowledgement that I've been working for an organization that celebrated a centennial over four years ago. It's weird, for sure. One of my favorite parts of Trinity, without a doubt, is how at home I can feel here, and how at home I can feel knowing that my time here is simply one small puzzle piece in a long tradition of Trinity students.

I've heard from enough friends who are now alumni that time at Trinity goes by incredibly fast, and so I do my best to try to appreciate this. And even if this means sacrificing a few evenings to all-night reading and writing sessions in order to spend some time with good friends, to go to parties and a cappella shows and squash matches, I believe that it is worth it. I've written before about how important I think it is to take advantage of what Trinity has to offer, but I believe that this extends far beyond any type of program or class or extracurricular that could be offered. It is sledding on trays you stole from Mather down the hill outside of the Library, it is lounging on the quad when it is finally warm out. And yes, these things are absolutely Trinity clichés. But I have done these things and enjoyed these things. Nothing else should matter.

It is necessary, then, to live in the past, appreciating and recognizing what those before us have done. It is also necessary to live in the present, enjoying ourselves, and making the most of our experiences. It is finally necessary to also live in the time that has yet to come, because inevitably someone is going to find an old copy of the Ivy labeled 2009 or some other year from the naughts, and there our pictures will be.

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