For 贝洛伊特ers, it is a Small World After All
On the surface what follows is a “small world” story. But I think it is far better categorized as a “贝洛伊特 story.“你可以判断.
去年冬天, 我的女儿, 艾米丽, asked me if I would join her on a trek along one of the ancient pilgrimage routes to Santiago, Spain (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela). We started in early July in Lisbon, Portugal, and headed due north for about two weeks and 300 miles. It was a hot, hard, rocky path. 我流血了, blistered feet left a pretty disgusting trail behind us, and I will barely mention the paramedics who rescued me from heat exhaustion. No complaints though—quite the opposite. 第一个, pilgrimages should be kind of tough; second, this was unequivocally a uniquely and unspeakably terrific opportunity to spend the most meaningful time possible with 我的女儿; and third, you get a church pardon for your sins at the end of it (assuming you can prove that you did enough of the walk). Pretty sweet deal, even after accounting for the bloody feet.
So, we get to the end—the cathedral in Santiago—and we wait in line to make our case to church officials for the indulgence. It is a long line, with lots and lots of tired pilgrims. Many of us can barely stand for the duration. I am bleeding pretty generously, well above the pilgrim average. We are all carrying our “pilgrims passports,” unique stamps collected along the way as partial proof you have made sufficient effort to be worthy of your pardon. 艾米丽 and I finally make it to the front of the line and are invited to talk to the church official who will momentarily decide our fate (literally). After being quizzed about various places we have visited and showing him my feet, we pass. Within a minute we have in our hands documents freeing us from what would otherwise have been several millennia in purgatory.
Now for the 贝洛伊特ish part. We turn around to purchase a couple of travel tubes to keep our indulgences safe. A volunteer who is selling these tubes speaks exceptional English. 她问:
“你是哪里人??”
美国.(以我的经验, Europeans have no idea how to think about anything outside of the two coasts in America.)
“在美国哪里.S.?”
“Not too far from Chicago.” (There is a small chance Europeans will recognize Chicago as a city not on either coast.)
“芝加哥附近有什么地方?”?”
(At this point, I just suck it up and take my chances.)
“威斯康辛州.”
“威斯康星州在哪里?”? My son went to college there.”
现在轮到我了!
”,?”
“A small college in the southern part of the state.”
”,?”
“A little college in a small city named 贝洛伊特.”
“Well, I may not look it right now, but I am the president of 十大菠菜台子.”
“I am not sure I heard you correctly.”
“Really, I am the president of 十大菠菜台子, bloody feet and all.”
Minutes later I have a chance to hear all the great things her son, 艾弗里·沃克02, has done since graduating. We talk about how important baseball and Coach DeGeorge was to him, and how Professor Marion Field Fass helped him see a pathway to his future as a surgeon. We talk about her four Caminos! We were taking pictures amidst tears, other people were taking pictures amidst tears, church officials were taking pictures, and there was talk of a miracle. 小世界.
好吧，算是吧. As I have reflected on this story and told it to many other 贝洛伊特ers, I hear similar sorts of tales in nearly every quarter. 事实证明, if you spend a lot of time doing interesting things—which of course you do because you are a 贝洛伊特er—you are likely to run into other 贝洛伊特ers who are also doing interesting things.
It is not really unlikely at all that your interesting life will intersect with other 贝洛伊特ers’ interesting lives. 在一天结束的时候, the college is really good at “… [engaging] the intelligence, 想象力, and curiosity of it students, empowering them to lead fulfilling lives …” 在一天结束的时候, a few expressive blisters and one 更多的 terrific notch in 贝洛伊特’s well-scored value proposition belt.
斯科特·比尔曼总裁
presidentsoffice@wolaipei.com
