Elmira's Honored History

The end of my week involved a lot of recollecting. As the purple scaffolding indicates, there is a lot of renovation occurring on our campus to our beloved Cowles Hall. This building is honored with history, as Cowles Hall is the original Elmira College. It is the site that alumni cherish, as it was their dorm or classroom. I could not be more excited to enter the building for the first time when all of the construction is completed to better understand the roots of our college.

As a part of the renovations, the treasured octagon that topped the building was removed. When this occurred, campus was buzzing with the news. Everyone was shocked and felt like the heart of the college was damaged. Even though we knew that it just needed some surgery and would return, it just wasn’t the same.

Yesterday marked a significant milestone in the remodel, the final purple beams were ready to be installed to complete the new and improved octagon. A ceremony was held where members of the college community were invited to sign the final beams and watch as they were lifted in the air and secured in place. Everyone came out to make their mark, adding a touch of our legacy to the college. It felt good to see the final piece of the octagon put into place and to know that we were a part of it. Cowles Hall is naked no more : )

Watching the ceremony made me excited to come back to campus as an alumnus. Tonight I had the chance to connect with alumni as a member of the Student Alumni Council. It was a lot of fun to hear their tales of campus life and Cowles Hall at the Binghamton New York Area Alumni Event. I was pleasantly surprised to see some familiar faces from Reunion 2011! It is nice to see how others have taken what they learned at EC and put it into good use in their careers.

Sunny Days Sweepin' Across All EC

September is full of traditions, new and old, here at EC. This surprise long weekend started off with a group of us going to see the Lion King in 3D! I’m sure the other moviegoers appreciated our recitation and singing along with the entire movie. It’s interesting that we still know every word, and the voices, for this childhood favorite but do not have the vocabulary we need memorized for our classes down pat : )

The next morning we were up bright and early for Octagon Fair! There were a lot of different takes on this nautical theme and many pirates and sailors dressed up around campus. For Hillel, we brought the Dead Sea to EC with some mineral mud for people to try. At the Active Minds table, we had Swedish Fish for sale and a Name that Nautical Phobia game. Sadly, the 2013’s ran out of luck and were thrown into EC Jail. It was nice to have Alumni and future EC students on campus as Saturday was the first Open House of the Fall.

Sunday brought on the first and last night of singing as today was Mountain Day! This was the first ever Mountain Day on a Monday. It was a very unexpected surprise to wake up to those congratulatory papers slipped under the door. The day was great with many games, raft races, picnic lunch, a memorial service for alumni who have passed away, iris planting and more. It will be hard to face reality and classes again tomorrow….

Endings and Beginnings

And the start of a new year at EC has begun! It doesn’t seem like the summer is over yet. This summer, I stayed on campus to work in Admissions and with Orientation. It was nice to make friends with a lot of different people and hang out without the craziness of clubs and a lot of homework. While it was a little weird to have the whole campus to about 120 of us, EC was still busy with tours, classes, and Summer Registrations. Once August came around, it was fun to welcome the Glorious Class of 2015 with all of the freshman, transfer students, and international students. It was weird at first to have so many people back on campus but it’s nice to have our EC family back and growing.

This week was the first week of classes here on campus. While I’m busy with five classes, I like my schedule a lot. The material in my classes seems to relate with Health Psychology and Complementary Health Therapies. I’m enjoying taking classes outside of my major to mix things up.

While excitement over new classes, new rooms, and new friendships is filling campus, today a somber atmosphere prevailed in honor of 9/11. Today at noon, our campus and community came together for a ceremony hosted by our Student Association. ROTC, College Republicans, College Democrats, A1 & the Sauce, The Chiclettes, and Hillel all joined forces to lead the ceremony with readings, singing, speeches, and more. The bells on campus rang 10 times in honor of each year that has passed since this national tragedy. Especially in light of the catastrophic flooding in my hometown, it was nice to be reminded of the strong sense of community that rose out of 9/11. Everyone is pulling together to rebuild their lives just as they did then.