Less than 48 hours to graduation.
Today, we did guidework in Berkely. God, it was great to be back there. It has'nt changed in 31 years. I thought that it might have become a glossy metropolis, but it's still the funky, hippified, college town that I remember from the seventies. Students don't walk the campus... they float along. You can almost smell the pot in the air. Burgess loved the meadnering walkways and the crowds of students, he walked so briskly, that it was an effort to keep up with him. You don't get many chances to revisit your past and have it be just as pleasant as you remember...I'm a lucky fellow.
Later in the afternoon, we went through the aforementioned exit interviews...a blessedly short process, where I voiced the concerns of yesterday's post. I got a very pleasant and informed explanation that it was difficult to find African-American applicants. Mind you, Marin County is an exceedingly white enclave, but I'm of the opinion that one finds what one looks for, and the net should be flung wider. I opined to this director of training, (a white South African...how's THAT for flinging your net?) That since the student population was incredibly diverse, that it was a detriment to not only the school, but to the students and to the program itself, that diversity was'nt mirrored in it's staff.
I'm also somewhat anxious about the graduation excercises. Apparently this event draws dog-crazy aficianados from all over the area, and Burgess os a well-known dog 'round these parts. He seems to recognize people I've never met or seen...and they know him on sight.
This will not be an easy getaway.
Today, we did guidework in Berkely. God, it was great to be back there. It has'nt changed in 31 years. I thought that it might have become a glossy metropolis, but it's still the funky, hippified, college town that I remember from the seventies. Students don't walk the campus... they float along. You can almost smell the pot in the air. Burgess loved the meadnering walkways and the crowds of students, he walked so briskly, that it was an effort to keep up with him. You don't get many chances to revisit your past and have it be just as pleasant as you remember...I'm a lucky fellow.
Later in the afternoon, we went through the aforementioned exit interviews...a blessedly short process, where I voiced the concerns of yesterday's post. I got a very pleasant and informed explanation that it was difficult to find African-American applicants. Mind you, Marin County is an exceedingly white enclave, but I'm of the opinion that one finds what one looks for, and the net should be flung wider. I opined to this director of training, (a white South African...how's THAT for flinging your net?) That since the student population was incredibly diverse, that it was a detriment to not only the school, but to the students and to the program itself, that diversity was'nt mirrored in it's staff.
I'm also somewhat anxious about the graduation excercises. Apparently this event draws dog-crazy aficianados from all over the area, and Burgess os a well-known dog 'round these parts. He seems to recognize people I've never met or seen...and they know him on sight.
This will not be an easy getaway.
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