EVERY TURN ALONG THE WAY during my walk down the familiar paths of my alma mater awakened a long-ago memory of a special friend, an inspiring mentor, a new epiphany, a well-earned accomplishment—or a successful practical joke! Even recollections of past disappointments had a sweetness to them. But before I continued down this road too far, I caught myself. I was beginning to feel a sense of loss and grief for the death of my life-in-the-past. I realized that my thoughts had strayed into passing judgment on this memorable place, making comparisons between my college years and the present.
Rather than being drawn into deep and sorrowful nostalgia for all the friends and traditions that had gone by the wayside or had considerably changed, I asked myself, Does this place have to stay the same to retain its luster for me? Should I yearn for the perfect and illusive institution that I thought it had been in the past, or should I find a way to fulfill my real need to experience, in a more lasting way, the nurturing and inspiring ideas that this institution had offered me?
Gone were those close friends, inspiring individuals, and hardy assignments that had stretched my abilities. But were they really gone? No. I still felt their essence deep within me—a treasure always available that I could draw on in the present. The earnestness in studying long hours to complete a college project—I can apply that earnestness again. Kind words of encouragement I had received then—I can pass them along to others now. The strength of character I had admired in those no longer in my experience—I can still hold them dear to me and even live those qualities in my own life.
