I graduated… and moved down the street

This week, I bought my membership to the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-Op. It was $20.00. This $20.00 is my share in the ownership of the Co-Op. This is something I do not necessarily understand. What I do understand, though, is that going to the Co-Op is literally the highlight of my week. I walk in and take a deep, full breath of the perfect air and make a beeline for the produce where I select Only The Best carrots and scallions and whatever else I have envisioned for the week. I meander and peruse, reminding myself to move slowly and to savor this 20-30 minutes of peace. Maybe I pick a new flavor of Siggis Skyr yogurt, or try a different shape of overpriced, artisan rice noodle. My life has changed in both big and small ways since graduating from Middlebury this May, and living in my college town post-graduation was not in my five-year plan.

Should I spend two hours doing my laundry at the place in town or should I mooch off of my friends who still live in the Middlebury dorms? Should I add feta to the orzo salad that I eat every single day, or save $7 this week? These decisions make up my week now. 

This time last year, I was submitting the first chapter of my honors political science thesis. Or, I was spending three hours in Proctor Dining Hall, sitting in the faithful back corner (at the mini table on the side of the drink area) cycling through different friends as they came and went. I rotated between gossiping with my favorite people and reading whatever political science journal article I had been assigned for my Future of U.S Democracy senior seminar. My weekends were full of late dinners with friends and deciding which 30-rack of cheap beer we were going to purchase from BevCo this time. Then, this past May, I graduated. 

At Middlebury, I was aptly prepared for certain challenges I might encounter in the real world. These challenges range from understanding Athenian statesmanship in the Peloponnesian War to being able to analyze the presentation of father-son relationships in the Loman family of “Death of a Salesman.” Middlebury prepared me for reading with a critical lens, for listening to different perspectives and for maintaining friendships despite busyness. 

College did not, however, prepare me for the loneliness and responsibility of The Real World. After the research position I had secured studying the democratization of big tech at the Harvard Kennedy School was defunded by the Trump administration, my job search pivoted — I just needed something to do after graduating that was not going back to Fairfield, Conn. and working at my local climbing gym. I landed on becoming an Admissions Counselor for Middlebury College. To my grandmother’s mild dismay, I would no longer be moving to a city alongside countless peers. I said goodbye to my vision of joining a run club, meeting people at bars and spending hours in the Museum of Fine Arts, and said hello again to a town I thought I knew like the back of my hand. 

Living here as an Adult in The Real World has reintroduced me to Middlebury in ways I did not expect. As a student, I would never have been able to take the time to get to know the cashier at the Co-Op who changes the shape of her eyebrows every week. I would not have had the time to read a new stack of library books (for pleasure) weekly. I would not have had the time to spend two hours running outside, exploring new roads rather than rushing a 30-minute lift between meals or classes. 

My social life still includes trivia at the Marquis every Thursday and long coffee dates at Haymaker, only now I can slow down enough to read in the movie theater before trivia begins and the baristas in Haymaker know my name and order. I get a new free plant off of Front Porch Forum weekly and I visit the kittens at the Humane Society. In a week, I will be a reading mentor to an elementary schooler in Bridport. I go on hikes now, not for quickness or efficiency, but to get to know the land I inhabit and enjoy the view. I continue the radio show that I have hosted for four years with WRMC on Tuesdays at 6 p.m., only now I have the time to painstakingly curate each song on the playlist. 

In no time at all, my life has changed immeasurably. I don’t live with my best friends in an Atwater suite and I don’t have my thesis deadlines looming large ahead of me. I don’t eat in Proctor or spend my evenings at club meetings or events. When I graduated, I thought that staying in Middlebury would mean staying still. But there is movement here now. Small-town life after college is not a failure to launch my Real Life; it’s just different. Small-town life after college has shown me the value of simple pleasures and finding enjoyment in mundane, everyday tasks. Maybe next week I will try that new flavor of Skyr, but either way I will love my 30 minutes in the Co-Op.