Now, in the quiet and still of the beginning of summer break, I reflect back on 2018-2019 and realize that—just like the view and the seasons—Hereford is both linear and cyclical.
Hereford has its cycles. Like clockwork, every Tuesday is breakfast and every Thursday is cookie night. Even my daughter’s internal clock now instinctively rings on Thursday nights for those cookies. Each year, we plan for Alpha and Omega Banquets, we gather for Movie on the Hill, and we don our t-shirts to welcome UVA’s newest students at Days on the Lawn. And we’ll do it all over again this year, and next year, and the year after that. Indeed, one of the best qualities of the residential colleges at UVA is that they are one of the few places where students return to live year after year. Moreover, with our corps of Faculty Fellows who continue to affiliate with Hereford each year, I am now beginning to recognize friendly faces who have become staples at our home on the hill.
However, something that is cyclical connotes an assumption that it simply repeats and does not move forward. This is not true for Hereford, and this is where I see our linearity. Hereford is constantly changing; we can’t help but change. New students join us each year, while others graduate and leave us. We even change Principals and Directors of Studies every 3-5 years, intentionally. But last year, I saw Hereford begin to change in ways that I think will affect us for years to come. I can see where we are headed, and although I don’t yet know how we’ll get there, I know it is within reach.
MINDFULNESS – SOCIAL AWARENESS — SUSTAINABILITY
