Fall in Chicago

For two evenings in a row, I've been near the Lake Michigan at two very different but wonderful places. Yesterday evening, I attended a much needed university career services seminar at the Evanston Campus of Northwestern in the Norris Commons. The Norris student center faces the artifical dip in Lake Michigan created by the University and has a few fountains in it. Its surreal and beautiful no matter what season or day it is. In winters, swans float around sheltering their heads under one wing.... in fall the leaves blow on to its waters....and in summers sailboats cruise along the sealine.

We were lucky to be facing the large room windows with the lake as a backdrop. It was one of the most wonderful sights I've ever seen in a while, listening to interesting and important information while watching a surreal sunset. It felt good to be there. It felt good that time hadn't been wasted by coming all the way out there. It felt good to know that Omar was in the Cafetaria downstairs and I would have company on the way home. It was such a good feeling.

Tonight, I went to another part of Lake Michigan. Northwestern University has another campus - in the heart of downtown...at Chicago and Fairbanks avenue. Some of the buildings here are much older than most ones in Evanston. Feinberg School of Medicine, Kellog's Management School and the Law School - all look like ancient, magical buildings that are hidden away from the busy commotion of muggles. When you enter inside, the world changes slightly. You are in an ivory tower - and for a little while whimsical fantasies of self-worth, pride, glory, higher service and affiliation brim into you. What's more, if you happen to stumble into a Council 100 meeting full of women of all ages, professions, races and experiences - you truly know that there is something wonderous about a place of education.

Tonight a beautiful, cool evening spent right across Lake Michigan in the Law School Auditorium in Chicago. I attended this Council 100 meeting which is a NU women's alumni club that helps out younger alumni. I met some wonderful people, found out many interesting things and made some friends. It was a really good night. I was touched with the help I was offered and it made me realize why people give back money and time to their alumni when they have succeeded in their lives.

In many ways, my Masters degree was a blur of tremendous work, anxiety and feeling uncomfortable in a thousand situations. As a commuting class, we liked each other as much as we possibly could but found it difficult to do many of the bonding things one usually does in undergraduates. Our class (and I) missed out attending Wildcat football and basketball games. We didn't wake up in the middle of the night to paint the rock. We passed by many tailgate parties instead to go to class on Saturday mornings. We didn't attend the world-class theatre, or the Met-level Orchestra performances. Many of us only saw the online libraries instead of the physical ones. We were so busy - studying, working, living, breathing, cooking, parenting, flying across cities, countries - it seemed a small miracle every week when all of us still made it to class! We truly didn't get anytime to settle in and FEEL!

Things have slowed down now. After these last two evenings, I truly feel lucky feeling that maybe Northwestern could become a second home.