This week has been a wild one, to say the least. It feels incredibly liminal: on the border between passing by slowly while somehow simultaneously zooming by. As expected, the week following a break tends to feel jam-packed and this week has been no exception. Though the week began with an unwillingness to return to the mundanity of classes after and having such an amazing fall break, I was excited for the week, particularly I found myself looking forward to having dinner at the Cooley House, home to LC’s president of the college: Wim Wiewel.
A few weeks ago I received an email from Wim and his wife Alice. I opened the email to find a virtual envelope addressed to me. I opened the envelope to find I had been cordially invited to a Student Leadership dinner hosted by Wim at the Cooley house. The details were few and far between but the intrigue of dining at Cooley house was palpable.
Immediately I texted my friends to find out if anyone else had been invited to a mysterious dinner hosted by the president. I found out that many of my peers who had served in some type of leadership role had been invited. Invitees ranged from RA’s, to members of ASLC, to NSO leaders.
At last the night finally approached, and my friends and I became increasingly exuberant at the thought of learning more about Cooley house and how the president lives. Additionally, after a year and a half of minimal social interaction, and little to no in person events, we were elated to be attending a dinner party.
We were shuttled to the Cooley house where we mingled with one another, enjoyed refreshments, and of course wandered around experiencing the views of Cooley house.
The house was grand. It sits on eight acres of land, and the house itself is a beautifully furnished mansion.
When the third shuttle arrived we were ushered to be seated. Wim gave a speech, thanking us for our contributions as leaders and then were served a three course meal beginning with a salad, followed by a chicken and a savory roulade, and finished with a berry topped pudding. Dining hall meals on campus pale in comparison.
We made conversation and I was able to get to know many new people all of whom have had some type of leadership role on campus and overall it was a very unique experience to get a chance to get to know other people.
After we finished eating we did an activity led by Dr. Kay, the head of the Center for social change and community involvement, in which we were challenged to open our perspectives as leaders and learn the importance of both listening and speaking as a leader.
The shuttles began arriving to shuttle us back to campus, at which time Wim gave those of us who were still at Cooley house a tour of the basement. The basement was as one would picture a basement to be: a spacious underground area with concrete walls. Though there were a surprising amount of tables including a ping pong table, a pool table and a couple of other tables. There were also hidden staircases and a sprinkling of random storage items.
The experience was incredibly unique and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to dine with so many interesting people from the LC community. The food was good, the company was great, and I hope to be invited back again!
Here are some pictures from Wim's house:
