Davidson and what it means to me

I've always considered myself someone who misses people more than particular places. Indeed, I always associate my time back home in Bulgaria, London, Berlin or Wuerzburg with the people that I was fortunate enough to cross paths with more than anything else. My sentiment towards Davidson College had always been the same after graduation. During my time in London, when the return to Davidson was nothing but a distant possibility, I always thought it would somehow never be the same without my close friends and without us spending countless hours in Commons, hanging out in the Union or having a party in our senior apartment.

We love Commons!

Yet during my return to campus for our 5th year reunion last weekend I started realizing that throughout all these years my understanding of the uniqueness of this place had always been incomplete. It is true - Davidson is wherever we, those fortunate souls who have had the chance to walk the halls of Chambers, may be. Nonetheless, there is something more to the spirit of our school, something that shapes Davidson even more so than the people who have studied there. It is something that I still can't define but could only observe on a number of occasions last weekend.

The oldest building on campus

It is the feeling of tranquility that I got when I arrived on campus and saw that everything was just the way it was and that students still leave their book bags all over campus knowing that they would find them there even in a week.

It is the understanding that the world is never black and white that Dr. Chris Alexander was able to instill in us during his lecture on globalization.

It is the vibrancy of the atmosphere in the Student Union twenty-four hours a day.

The Alvarez College Union

It is the taste of the chicken quesadillas in the Outpost.

It is the appreciation of those in whose classroom you've sat and whose offices were always open for you.




A reunion with Political Science Professor and former advisor Dr. Lou Ortmayer


It is the mixed feeling of nostalgia and joy that Greg Harris, Nick Lehman, Peter Simov and I felt when we walked in our old apartment Ryburn 302 only to see our old coffee table still there and still going strong despite the fact that we used it more for dancing rather than drinking coffee.

It is the belief that the world is an oyster and that the solutions to its problems are firmly within our grasp that oozes from the pages of The Davidsonian.

It is the conviction that once you've lived in Richardson your freshman year and you've been able to get along with your roommate life will be smooth sailing after that.

It is the sense of belonging to a place when in the space of 2 mins walking from Sentelle to Chambers you've said hello to ten people at the very least.

Chambers

But above for me, and I dare say for us Davidson alums in general, this feeling whose precise definition escapes me is a feeling of longing; a longing to return and to always be part of that place that we called home for four years. My longing is mixed with the hope that my brother will have the chance to have my Davidson experience when he starts college in two years. That way I can keep returning even more often to my alma mater.