The Buzz

The months of April and May can be incredibly stressful times for many of our students as the college application process looms before juniors and seniors are in the final stages of making their college decisions. The mission of Proctor's College Counseling department is to foster students’ academic, intellectual and personal growth while empowering them to take ownership of the college process and their futures. We find the students who find the greatest success in the college admission process are those who understand their abilities, passions and interests, and are therefore able to find the “right fit.” Historically, Proctor students have had the motivation and the self-awareness to make such matches. They trust their hearts and inner-self, allowing insight, not college rankings, to guide their post Proctor careers.

Each week a new student gets to write the blog. We can write about whatever we want.  The thing is when teachers give you the freedom to write anything it is either amazing and the words come flowing onto the page, or a painstakingly slow process where you are stuck so long looking at a blank screen that you start to hallucinate or forget what words even are. So where to start?

Karen Hoskin ‘86 left the comforts of her rural Maine milltown in the fall of 1985 and arrived on Proctor’s campus as a first year senior. Familiar friends, coaches, and family, were replaced by countless unknowns, but she was confident the journey on which she was about to embark would change her life. She was right. As her 30th Proctor Reunion approaches, Karen reflects on her journey since Proctor; one that led her to Williams College, to working in an enlightening, albeit unsuccessful, political campaign, to living off the grid with her husband for ten years, to a successful career as a brand builder, and most recently, to starting her own craft distillery in Crested Butte.  

The Sabbath. Oliver Sacks has written a wonderfully, tight essay about the role this day played throughout his life - the restfulness of it, the pause of it, the disconnect from work and routine to focus on the connection of faith and family. It’s a powerful reminder the author tucks into the end of his slim volume of essays titled Gratitude. That essay and a conversation with Gregor about what we do and don’t share about individual beliefs have me musing late in the week about faith and schools.

Why offer students a time in their days to sit quietly, focus their thoughts, quiet their bodies, set their intentions, and just have a time of reflection, relaxation, and rejuvenation? In a world such as ours at Proctor, which might be seen as a magnificent bubble away from the greater culture around us, our students are challenged to do their very best. And this can become stressful.

We got off the high speed train in Valencia to be greeted by an array of alluring billboards. We then press on to the hostal where we unload all of our belongings. After brainstorming for awhile we collectively decided to go to the beach for an hour or two before dinner. The beaches skyline was littered with a plethora of kites and floats. Kevin and Drew were the only ones daring enough to set foot in the frigid waters. 

The past week was filled with both excitement and exhaustion that Paris brought to us. We had a tight schedule and a lot of moving but it didn’t stop us from having fun and studying the artworks.