Graduation is a time for cliches, and in this moment of finality, we have decided to embrace it. And indeed, oh, the places we'll go!
But as we reflect on our four years at Brown, it is hard not to also look back on the places we've gone. We've moved from Keeney to Keene Street, from Convocation to Commencement. And as we have grown and changed over the past four years, Brown has, too.
"Out there things can happen and frequently do," Dr. Seuss wrote. As we sat on our perch atop College Hill and in our newsroom, things did happen. Brown spread across the world, recruiting the best and brightest from around the globe in droves. The University turned old factories into a medical school, gave the arts a new home and drastically expanded its physical footprint. Science took on new prominence with buildings, departments and research programs.
In many ways, Brown is now a different school than the one we entered in 2007. And with double the applications for the class of 2015 than when we applied, who's to say if we would even make the cut today? But as we — the class of 2011 — walk out the same gates we walked through four years ago, we will have changed, too.
So, Brown, we pass on the message to you that Dr. Seuss has written to us: "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." In four years, you've gone many places, and yet there is still growing to do. There are changes to be made and new things to see. But everyone keeps telling us that's the fun part.
