December 17, 2024

Happy Holidays! 

Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have some time with your students to celebrate their achievements—whether this was their first, or penultimate, term. 

On Monday, December 9, I had the honor of joining a celebration on campus honoring this year’s December graduates and our newest alumni! 

There to cheer them on were staff, faculty, classmates, and friends. If your student was among this impressive group of graduates, congratulations! You made it! 

As an alum, I can say with confidence that these new graduates are heading off into the world with a core group of lifelong allies, friends, and collaborators. At least that’s been my experience: my closest friends are my Bennington classmates, including my life partner whom I met at Bennington. One of my teachers remained a friend and mentor decades after graduation, and we’d grab lunch together annually to talk about writing and poetry.

The celebration of these graduates got me thinking of advice alumni could give to these shiny new graduates, and I found myself turning to a clip of Spencer Cox '90, which is part of an interview connected to the incredible documentary How to Survive a Plague. Read more about Spencer’s outsized impact on the world on Bennington’s website. 

The impact our students have on the world starts during Field Work Term, and I can’t wait to hear about the experiences they’ll bring back to campus to share with us. One of the highlights for me this term was watching students’ presentations about their FWT experiences—from responsible nanotechnology to supporting the African diaspora. I’m thrilled that FWTs remain a core part of a student’s experience here at Bennington.

This fall, I had the opportunity to speak with a group of first-year students about Field Work Term and how Bennington prepares you for the “real world” and a career. What I, and another alum who joined me, told these students is that Field Work Terms helped us figure out what we wanted to do professionally. But, more importantly, Bennington’s self-designed education centered around seeking an answer to a question asked of yourself and the world prepares students for more than just a trade or traditional career track. It’s why such a small school continues to turn out such impressive thinkers across the arts, culture, and sciences.

I hope you have time to relax and reflect over these next few weeks, and we’ll see your students back on campus soon enough! 

 

Onward,

Shay Totten '91 
Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement