Opinion

Being grateful to Hamilton is not too much to ask

By Ben Fields ’15

I am writing this article not as editor-in-chief of The Spectator, not as a senior gift committee member, but rather as a member of the class of 2015. I was not asked to write this by anyone on the senior gift committee or elsewhere in the administration. In fact, I am not the biggest fan of my class’s senior gift. I do not particularly understand why we need to have an outdoor classroom in the middle of the snowiest area in the country. However, I happily contributed to the senior gift because of what it symbolizes. Giving back to the place that has given me more than I could possibly imagine.

Hamilton is more than just a school. It is a community and a home. For some, like me, it is more of a home to me than my own house. This is a tremendously special place that we too often take for granted. We often complain about having to go to classes or wake up for a sports practice or do our work, but at the end of the day we have an amazing life here. Hamilton represents a place that we will always be able to go back to, it is not only our home now, but it will be our alma mater for the rest of our lives in just three weeks.

We just celebrated our alumni through our attitude of gratitude celebration during Spring Volunteer Weekend. The countless Who’s Your Hamilton posts only speak to how much this school means to each of us, and the amazing people who have made it possible. So, why then is it so hard to give just five dollars to anything that you love on this campus. Giving to the Senior Gift does not mean supporting the physical structure that is being built – you do not even have to give to that specific project – it means supporting the school that has given us more than we could possibly realize.

Giving to the College is more than just a monetary gift, although those certainly help, it is a symbolic way of saying thank you. There is a clear message in giving to the Senior Gift. It says that you appreciate what Hamilton has done for you. It says that you have had meaningful experiences that you will cherish for the rest of your life. More than anything, it says thanks. At the end of the day, that does not seem like an unreasonable thing to ask of you. Say thank you for a lecture that challenged your ideas and made you think a little harder. Say thank you for the arguments you have had throughout your college life. There are an innumerable amount of things that we should be thankful for, and giving five dollars is not that hard of a way to do just that.

I am not saying that money is the best way to say thank you, or that you should use this as an opportunity to avoid actually saying thank you. Rather, I am saying that giving symbolizes your gratitude. It is the beginning of finding ways to give back to a place that could not be so great without alumni help. We are the next generation of alumni that will work to better Hamilton, and that starts now.

All of this is a very long way of saying that every single member of the class of 2015 should give to the Senior Gift. Whether or not you like the actual gift, I challenge you to say that Hamilton has not made a huge impact on your life. Whether it is an alum who finds you a job, or a professor who changes your entire life direction, or a staff member who is particularly important to you or even another student who you would not have met otherwise, everyone has someone or something special at this school.

Hamilton does not exist just to educate. It is a place to grow up, to meet lifelong friends, to develop into an amazing person. Just three weeks from Sunday, we will walk across a stage in the Field House and become Hamilton alumni. Let us celebrate that amazing achievement by honoring the School, the community, the alumni, the faculty, the staff and everyone and everything else that has gotten us here. We are too involved as a class to not be some of the most involved alumni, and whether we like it or not, the Senior Gift is our first opportunity to demonstrate what we will do as an alumni class. So, be here for the School that will always be here for you.

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