SJU was hosting Villanova in men's soccer, at the same time we were in campus for the alumni homecoming. There was no red carpet rolled out for us, none of my grad school classmates were there, most attendees looked young enough to be in the roster of recent grads and it was a bit cold for me to enjoy the outdoor Italian feast.No trumpets were blaring either as we signed up for registration; the band was playing I guess for the home and visiting soccer team. Boohoo! Where is everyone? Was it because of the Columbus day weekend or did all of my 20 classmates find CEO-paying jobs and settle outside NY? How about the rest of the school? Maybe they skipped the food part and came to watch the soccer game instead. Too bad we couldn't stay for that, my less than cooperative stuffy nose spoiled it all, we even had to eat inside the car it was too cold for me outdoors. It was disappointing.
The only consolation is that we picked up freebies of sorts that'll probably just end up hidden in the drawer: sports shirts, seat cushions, mouse pads, mini flash light, the usual giveaways at these functions, all in SJU colors of blazing red. A coincidence that my other alma mater MIT's color is also cardinal red. Driving around the campus, we found most of the familiar halls still standing, reminders of the countless hours spent pouring over books in the Library and then fervently praying in the chapel for more than just a passing grade.
Fond memories of my SJU days 25 years ago when I was still hungry for more advanced learning, also when my brain was still made up of live functioning cells successfully connecting to one another. Now my brain is tired, I can feel it hurts even if it's not supposed to. Where have all my classmates gone? Adam? Mary Skelly?
