When Karen Cushman '82 died unexpectedly in 1993, her father established a scholarship fund in her name at Proctor, because, he told me, "Her happiest years were here." This has been on my mind recently for a couple of reasons: Karen's dad passed away eleven days ago, and it's interesting to consider the happiness factor of life at a boarding school, with all of the structure and workload. 



In an email to Mike Henriques received yesterday, a parent declares, "Tom and I are so entirely grateful to the Proctor community.  [Name] has been inspired and supported and encouraged at every turn. Though he may not realize these gifts at the moment when he's smack in the thick of a very full life of senior year, we know he's grown in immeasurable ways at Proctor."



Last week, while passing two seniors, I overheard a reference to a "P.G. year". (A postgraduate year is an additional senior year at a prep school following graduation from high school.) I asked, "Are you considering a P.G. year?" She replied, "I was joking that I wish I could do about five P.G. years here at Proctor." Here's a little school spirit:



Last night, a group of hearty alumni braved the snowstorm to chase a puck on Proctor Pond. It was the first alumni hockey game (if you can call it that!) to be played on this surface....where Proctor hockey was played until the '70s, and it created an instant tradition. There is nothing like the sound of steel blades on pond ice...pushing the puck through mounting snow...and playing without offsides and referees!







A crowd of students watched, blew on vuvuzela-like horn-whistles, and enjoyed burgers, dogs and a recalcitrant fire. They watched unknown skaters laugh and relive a time gone by, when they were students here, living--perhaps--their happiest years.







A graduate from the Class of 2011 posted the following on Facebook: "When I think of what defines who I am, I don't think of the college I go to, or the the work I now have, or how I now live my life.... I think of my high school and what it gave to me....sailing down the coast to the Caribbean....driving across the country with my closest friends, friends whom I will always consider my closest friends. Even though my life may appear different now, it hasn't changed one bit. I will never learn as much in college as I learned in a school of 350 best friends."