H is for Home

“Our hearts are with thee, dear William and Mary, however far we stray.”

I returned to William and Mary this week after fourteen months away from the College.  I returned in the traditional Williamsburg drizzle to a damp, desolate campus that students had vacated a week prior.  And despite the precipitation and naked trees and sparse population, I was still totally struck by the beauty of the place.  Brian can attest that I spent much of our time wandering campus in silence.  Very few W&M alumni will ever be able to attest to living in a more beautiful place, in terms of looks and spirit, than our collegiate heaven in Williamsburg.

The feeling of familiarity on campus made me wonder how often I encounter W&M daily, even 3,000 miles away from “home.”  And, it turns out, the Tribe is everywhere:

• In my 3rd grade math classroom, where W&M regalia litters the walls and students ask constant questions about the griffin.  “Have you talked to the Lion-Eagle-Man this week, Ms. Thomson?”
• In Napa, California, where a few Bay Area alumni visited another alumnus who manages the Girard Winery Tasting Room.  (By the way, Tribe networking goes a long way in wine country!  I’ll raise my glass to that.)
•  In Edinburgh, Scotland, where four alumni converged for Thanksgiving 2011.  Misha (W&M ’11, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria) and I flew in from our respective new homes to spend time with Brian (W&M ’11, Graduate Student at the University of Edinburgh) and Hayley (W&M ’11, Graduate Student at the University of Glasgow).
• In my e-mail inbox, where I still receive weekly updates from the Reves Center, the Russian Studies listserv, and the Office of Community Engagement and Scholarship.  And messages from W&M friends, via phone, e-mail, Twitter, and text, keep me afloat daily.
• In my kitchen cabinets, which are cluttered with innumerable Green Leafe and cider mugs.  (We Tribespeople seem to have an obsession with collectable drinking vessels of all kinds.)
• On my bedroom walls, where I’m not ashamed to say there are numerous renditions of the Wren building.  That’s not to mention the William and Mary blanket, Tribe basketball towels, alumni magazines, and so forth strewn about my San Jose home.
  

  Emilio’s favorite “book” in our classroom library is the W&M alumni magazine.

These are just the most concrete examples, and the list is incomplete.  What is striking about the inescapable green-and-gold-ness of my life is that it has become so imbedded in who I am and how I act that I rarely notice it specifically.  But others do, and they comment on how unusual it is for a small, public school to be regarded so affectionately by its alumni.

Those of us who name the College as our alma mater know the tremendous impact it has had on our lives and our characters.  But, in order for W&M to expand its national and international presence, I think we need to begin recognizing and acknowledging Tribe moments.  The legacy of our beloved school is ours to nurture and grow.

Go Tribe,

Bailey