Another major life transition has come, with my graduation from this institution last Thursday. The Walkmen gave themselves a perfect album title in 2002, but I don't think the "pretended to" part is applicable this time, as it was two years ago when I temporarily left the working world. The social environment of the newsroom was relatively contrived, but in school, there was a genuine bonding because we all shared one elemental passion -- the city.
I like to think that we're all smart enough to go trade derivatives, but instead chose something much more meaningful and influential: urban design, politics, policy, transportation, housing, art, culture and living. I respect my classmates very much because of this. I also think it would be wildly fun and interesting if we were all dropped into one wayward city -- say Cleveland -- and allowed to work with whoever we wanted on whatever we wanted. Of course, this is an absurd premise because no one would fund this, we'd all be mildly tired of each other, and it's arrogant to think that a bunch of 20-somethings have the right ideas for postwar post-industrial cities. But after two years, I wonder what impact we'd collectively have. It would probably be great.
Above are a couple of photos of us waiting in Gund Hall on Thursday morning to march to Harvard Yard for commencement.
2 comments:
How come everything looks purple in these pictures?
Probably because I took the photos using my cell phone's camera, which isn't very good. Jake, I assume you left that comment, no? Is the post too sentimental? Maybe all of them are?
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