Seeing Your College Friends Grow Up
“No one’s life turned out exactly as anticipated, not even for the most ardent planner.”
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In 2018, Deborah Copaken listed “30 simple shared truths” she learned at her 30th Harvard reunion. Among them:
- “No one’s life turned out exactly as anticipated, not even for the most ardent planner.”
- “Nearly all the alumni said they were embarrassed by their younger selves, particularly by how judgmental they used to be.”
- “We have all become far more generous with our I love you’s. They flew freely at the reunion. We don’t ration them out to only our intimates now, it seems; we have expanded our understanding of what love is, making room for long-lost friends.”
Spend some time with Copaken’s list this weekend. It’s a lovely compilation of shared truths about being human, but it’s also a reminder of the powerful bonds college-age young adults are capable of forming—and the interesting ways those bonds change over time.
Today’s reading list explores college reunions and graduations, and compiles advice for college students on the precipice of post-graduate life.
On Graduation
What I Learned About Life at My 30th College Reunion
By Deborah Copaken
“Every classmate who became a teacher or doctor seemed happy,” and 29 other lessons from seeing my Harvard class of 1988 all grown up
Dear Graduates, I Failed and Failed Until Something Worked
By Katie Herzog
Precariousness is a fact of life, especially now. (From 2020)
The Only Career Advice You’ll Ever Need
By Arthur C. Brooks
The contentment of being true to yourself comes through doing good work, and doing it with love.
Still Curious?
- Why do schools read everyone’s name at graduation? Members of the audience care about their loved one’s brief moment of glory—and no one else’s.
- How college changes the parent-child relationship: The distance can actually strengthen the bond, Alia Wong wrote in 2019.
Other Diversions
- Stop wasting your fridge space.
- This is going to be a weird summer for movies.
- Why it’s nice to know you
P.S.
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. “As my mother and I were at [the] Dairy Queen drive-through in Fort Myers, Florida, this fellow jumped on the hood of our car,” Zandra J., 46, in Stillwater, Minnesota, wrote. “He apparently wanted to say, ‘Look at me!’ Or perhaps ‘You’re not going anywhere until I get a bite!’”
I’ll continue to share your responses in the coming weeks. If you’d like to share, reply to this email with a photo and a short description so we can share your wonder with fellow readers in a future edition of this newsletter or on our website. Please include your name (initials are okay), age, and location. By doing so, you agree that The Atlantic has permission to publish your photo and publicly attribute the response to you, including your first name and last initial, age, and/or location that you share with your submission.
— Isabel