<p>My son is graduating from UChicago this weekend. He had a choice between UChicago, Northwestern, Georgetown, George Washington and U of I honors program. If you are still deciding, below is a post he put up a couple of days ago recapping his thoughts on UofC. Its long but may give you some insight .</p>
<p>“Graduation didn’t really hit me until I started packing up my room today. Looking at things, remembering the context in which they were used, decided whether to keep them or not, etc- it all forces a sort of nostalgia that I have been avoiding with a high degree of success.</p>
<p>UChicago is, without doubt, a place of intense masochism. Everything is difficult, everything is problematized, nothing is as easy as it seems. We, as students, bask in this- there is honor in academic suffering, nobility in protest, and humor in self-deprecation. I think, though, that it is easy to lose sight of the holistic picture- to become so wrapped up in masochism that the experience isn’t clear. I’ve certainly done this more than once.</p>
<p>Do I take issue with the University of Chicago? With the American college-system in general? Certainly, on multiple levels. But I also credit this place, this space, this academic community, with being instrumental in the formation and curation of my core interests, values, and passions. I have been changed significantly, in an absolutely positive way, by the University of Chicago.</p>
<p>A lot of credit goes to the institution itself. There’s a certain dynamism to the experience created here, allowing students to weave in and out of different organizations and academic pursuits seamlessly. In four years, I have been able to (I’m going to risk being self-indulgent for a second. I’m more trying to use myself as an example, but I’m entitled to self-indulgence right now anyways because I’m graduating college so lay off):
-Double major in two areas of study with no academic overlap
-Be an active, position holding member of a social fraternity
-Make (or attempt to make) music with dozens of talented musicians
-Travel to Europe and Africa
-Compete with our debate team across the country
- Hold multiple internships
- Work directly with community organizations making a substantive difference in the South Side of Chciago
- Write a BA thesis that contributes substantively to the field of study about which it’s written
- Write a BA about something important to me
- Do community service work
- Act in multiple plays
- Act in a sitcom
- Model
- Direct a play of my own devising</p>
<p>My point here is far from “look at all the **** I’ve done”. On the contrary, I think that my experience here is typical. I can’t think of a graduating senior I know who hasn’t also had the opportunity to create, explore, and learn in the sprawling, multi-faceted way that I have.</p>
<p>This leads me to the second accreditation. The UChicago institution is important in facilitating these experiences, but I think that the UChicago community magnifies, intensifies, and raises the stakes of all that’s done here. We are spoiled by each other, honestly; most of us will never again dwell in an intentional community so full of driven, devoted, and curious people. ‘Curiosity’ is perhaps the best virtue demonstrated by this campus- I strongly desire to hold onto the curiosity exhibited by my peers at this school. I disagree with almost everyone on this campus at least sometimes, but I respect you all almost all of the time for the passion and reason behind your beliefs and actions.</p>
<p>So thank you, everyone. Thank you for pushing me, competing with me, questioning me, and challenging me. Thanks Marshall Smith for living with me for 4 years and not cutting my head off. Thanks Andy Moore for teaching me more than I ever wanted to know about numbers and being a fiercely loyal friend. Thank you Ewa James Ewa, Grigoriy Moskalenko, Peter Wilk and Bradford Rogers for going through the most fun we never want to have again, together. Thanks to everyone else in Phi delt for trusting me, defending me, and tolerating my antics/improv art exhibits. Thanks Anna Meredith for casting me in my first play and thanks Scarlett Kim for teaching me about art. Thank you, Colin Griffin, for going along with almost every terrible plan that I have. Thanks Ryan Haggart for constantly checking my ego. Thanks Patrick Dexter for making time abroad more worth it. Thank you Nick Shatan and for putting my face in front of a camera and also for all the weird drinks you make. Thanks to everyone on the debate team who wasn’t pissed when I quit the second time and never came back. Thanks to all the theater folk who have inspired me, worked with me, or watched something I created (thanks to James Fleming for future endeavors untold). Thanks Joy Mao and Marika Brownlee for being great coworkers. Thanks Morgan Johnson, for enabling me and enlivening me, for better or for worse. (It won’t let me tag anymore but ) Thanks mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, for giving me the tools to succeed, before, now, and forever. Thanks to the many, many people I couldn’t tag here, people from public policy, people from first year, people who I always stop to talk to, people I knew for an hour, people I’ve known for four years.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I was ever rude to you at a party (unless you deserved it), I’m sorry if I bailed on plans with you or didn’t text you enough (I’m really bad at those things), I’m sorry if I ever made you feel uncomfortable (unless it was in the name of art), and I’m sorry if we didn’t get to know each other well enough (I probably would have liked to).</p>
<p>Congratulations, class of 2014.”</p>