Looking for a college can be a bit of a mess. With so many presentations and pamphlets and meetings, it can be hard to distinguish one school from the other. Having attended all of the meetings and looked at all of the marketing, I made my decision to go to Middlebury when I visited the campus for the first time. There's a wonderful feel about the place, and since that first visit in spring 2005, Middlebury has lived up to all of my first impressions and become a place that I look forward to returning to each fall.
Set on a hill in the madcap beauty of Vermont, the College hums with activity. It's full of students interested in learning and professors, administrators and staff interested in students, and passionate about what they do. With all of the different levels mixed together, you have the chance to really get to know the people teaching your classes and working behind the scenes. For me, it is this mix of perspectives, and the work that comes out of it, that make the campus such a vibrant place to be.
It's inspiring to be surrounded by students pursuing so many different interests. Everywhere you look at Middlebury you can see students branching out from majors and minors into social activism or sports teams or campus jobs. I've seen friends choreograph bhangra pieces in their study breaks and friends change their major three times as they discover that what they are truly passionate about is becoming a social worker. Everywhere you look, people are testing out their interests and pushing themselves in new directions.
Some of the best experiences that I have had at the College have been through the mixing of the different opportunities that Middlebury has to offer: moving from thought-provoking classes in international law and civil conflict to working as a research assistant with Quinn Mecham and Will Phelan (two professors from the political science department); meeting John Beattie (a member of the College staff from the counseling center) and partnering with him to start a campus organization addressing gender violence; working with friends from Singapore and Hong Kong to organize a symposium on the conflict between India and Pakistan.
Over the course of my time at Middlebury, the chance to live and work with such amazing people has been an absolute gift and one that keeps on propelling me forward. With its wild blend of academics and activities, Middlebury has been a fantastic place to spend three years of my life.