Sometimes trying to wrap it into an essay is too limiting. Sometimes it is helpful to sit down, list, and skip the culling into paragraphs. Yes, it’s messier, the untended list. It’s a bramble and kudzu filled garden, more difficult to navigate, but this week, following Scott’s blogs posts on thankfulness, I look to moments that have triggered my gratitude over the last seven days. I often worry that in our rush to the next, the whatever next, the beautiful rustle of these moments pass unnoticed. A mistake. We should let these good moments touch us. We should slow down, look around, and actually build our gratitude lists. It takes practice, sometimes work, but it yields moments that nourish hope and optimism, moments that ground the spirit. My list from the last seven days:

Every community is full of unsung heroes whose work is often outside of the spotlight, but nonetheless essential to the overall operations of a complex organization like Proctor. The efforts of Proctor’s Technology team, Housekeeping Department, and Maintenance Department have been the focus of the last three days in our Week of Thankfulness. Today our attention shifts to those individuals who serve in administrative support roles around campus.

As we head into Thanksgiving Break, we are sharing a few thoughts on what we’re thankful for here at Proctor. We encourage you to extend your gratitude to the members of the community who positively impact your life as well! 

If you drive by campus around 3:00 am, lights will be on throughout academic buildings. Most of us don’t drive by at 3:00 am, so we do not notice the work being done by our Housekeeping team each night/early morning in preparation for the day ahead. Today, we extend our gratitude to the dedicated group of women whose hard work for Proctor’s Housekeeping Department is so very much appreciated.

Over the next five days heading into Thanksgiving Break, we will be sharing a few thoughts on what we’re thankful for here at Proctor. We encourage you to extend your gratitude to the members of the community who positively impact your life as well! 

When Cope ‘17, Jay ‘17, Carl ‘17, and Cros ‘17 began singing “A Prayer for the Children” during Sunday afternoon’s vocal music ensemble recital, it felt as though someone pressed the pause button on life. Their impassioned voices carried the words off the page and into the hearts of the seventy-five parents and community members in attendance. “Can you feel the hearts of the children? / Aching for home, for something of their very own / Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to, / But hope for a better day a better day.”

This has been emotional. Tuesday night I was walking past Carriage House and saw the blue lights of television. In one common room a hockey game was being watched; in the other, the CNN election team was parsing results. I thought interest in the election might track that way – spotty and easily distracted and redirected by a good Bruins game. I was wrong.

On Tuesday evening, five classes joined together to host Proctor’s annual Fall Innovation Night in the Wise Center while a bitter national election took place outside the Proctor bubble. Students from Engineering, Environmental Biology, AP Environmental Studies, US History, and Social Entrepreneurship showcased their final projects to the whole community through an open house atmosphere followed by individual presentations for each group throughout Maxwell Savage Hall. Innovative learning and student-led projects have long been core to Proctor’s academic curriculum, and Innovation Night allows much of that work to be shared with the entire community.