Swat rep

4 Comments

Oh, yeah, that was the other thing I was going to mention. This afternoon, I met with someone from Swarthmore's Development office; she was in California meeting with various alums, and had asked if I'd chat with her. The original context was something about ways that the College could help alums establish and maintain connections to each other and to the College, but I had explained that I already have connections in place with many, perhaps most, of my college friends, and that I go back to Swat to visit fairly regularly.

Anyway, turns out that I apparently give more money to the college than most alums my age, and they were wondering why, and what they could do to ensure that I kept it up. :)

I explained that it was 'cause I can afford it (due to ridiculously inflated Silicon Valley salary) and 'cause Swarthmore financial aid was extremely good to me when I needed it. My family couldn't afford to send me there; the college gave me a very good deal (significantly better than some friends in similar situations, unfortunately, but I didn't feel at the time that I could afford to object, especially since even with that good deal I still wouldn't have graduated if my roommate's parents hadn't loaned me some money). Another situation in which, if I didn't hate the phrase so much, I might be inclined to say something about "paying forward."

The College rep seemed surprised to hear about SWIL and the strength of the ongoing connection among SWILfolk. I tried to explain that it was kind of like a fraternity, only based around science fiction and fantasy and silliness, and not single-sex, and without so much alcohol and hazing. I know the Alumni Office knows about us; I gather that we're one of the most cohesive and longstanding groups of alums. But maybe we SWIL alums should make our affiliation clearer when we donate money. :)

4 Responses to “Swat rep”

  1. Tempest

    Must be nice to feel that way about an alma mater. I certainly don’t hold that kind of love for mine. I tend to think of them as the devil’s minions, really.

    Why the aversion to the phrase “paying forward”?

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  2. Tempest

    never click “insert” before proofreading. damn.

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  3. Rachel Heslin

    Let’s see, I graduated from UCLA in ’90, and most of my closest friends are still involved with Enigma, the UCLA SF/F/H/geek club. Most of us don’t have much in the way of money, though, and I honestly don’t know how much of the warm fuzziness extends to UCLA itself.

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  4. naomi_traveller

    yes! i’m curious too… why the aversion to “paying it forward”. I hate the phrase too, but it’s actually a new thing, this hate, and i know exactly whence it came: that awful earnest movie with the boy from The Sixth Sense in it.

    So, is this a longstanding hate? I must know.

    A friend of mine is lecturing at Swarthmore in their physics and astronomy dept. these days. From what he says, it sounds positively idyllic. 🙂

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