By Daniel Kerwin

It was four short years ago that the class of 2010 was sending in acceptance letters to Macalester, left only to wonder what the next four years would bring. In a mere two weeks those four years will come to an end, and everything that was left to speculation four years ago will have already come to pass. A lot has changed on campus and in the greater world during our stay at Macalester, and no incoming Macalester class will ever experience Macalester the same way we did.

It’s been three years since we were in the freshmen dorms; two years for the unlucky ones among us. We are the last Macalester class to remember the old athletic facility, and to have spent a full year and a half using the IHM for our athletic needs. We remember when it wasn’t a cross campus trek to get to health services, though the level of help you receive has remained the same. Some of us have maybe set foot in the building that stands where health services used to be.

We remember professors that have since moved on or retired that the majority of the current student body never had the chance to meet, and countless other people on campus that have brightened our time on campus, and we remember King Bell.

Some of us travelled out of the country for the first time for study abroad. Some of us travelled to the United States for the first time ever to attend Mac. Some of us had our first ever snowy winters. Since we’ve been here no two winters have been the same, and no spring has been as beautiful as the one we’re currently experiencing.

Since we’ve been here we witnessed Macalester start classes early to accommodate the Republican National Convention, witnessed the fallout of a politically incorrect party that made national news, helped to elect the nation’s first African American President, and Pluto ceased to be a planet. And I’m pretty sure the swing set used to be much taller.

Sometimes it’s hard to look back four years and feel any different, but sometimes it’s hard to look back four years and feel the same at all. I’ll try to avoid confusing people further. Hopefully you all will have reason to look back at these four years as fondly as I do.

And don’t worry, I’m not asking you for money.

Daniel Kerwin ’10 can be reached at [email protected].