Living in a pandemic these past months has made me realize the importance of human connectedness. No matter how physically distanced we may be, humanity intertwines all of our lives. During the many months of quarantine, everyday I read stories about individuals from all over the world, published on Instagram/Facebook by Humans of New York (HONY). Every story about each person was so different, so unique, yet as I read each one, I couldn’t help but think that despite all these differences, everyone is human and shares something in common with someone else. For example, the HONY stories talk about family, memories, love, birthdays, education or career pathways, and loss. COVID-19 has been isolating, and I became really interested and invested in reading these stories during this past year. It made me realize that I want to do something somewhat similar to these stories for my thesis, and be able to learn about many different people and places that are associated with Vassar. Therefore, for my thesis project, I looked at the interconnectedness that people have with this place called Vassar, by interviewing Vassar students, faculty, and alumni from different generations and compiling all the narratives into this book. 

Specifically, the goals of my project were the following; to determine the places from which Vassar has drawn its students and faculty, and what drew these people to Vassar. By interviewing cross-generationally, I wanted to be able to get a bigger picture of “Vassar” over time. Did the places in which these individuals grew up transform Vassar? What does Vassar as a place (and a space) mean to these people? What did they learn from this place? What is their definition of home? 

In my environmental studies courses over the years, material has focused on home and sense of place, as well as place-based education. Place-based education enables a person to learn about the environment around them through personal experiences, and can contribute to environmental activism and appreciation within one’s own community. I was interested to see whether one’s different childhood backgrounds (where they grew up and their experiences and sense of place there) influenced their future life decisions. 

Thirty-two people participated in my project; thirteen current students, twelve alumni (who are not also faculty), and seven current or former faculty. Of those seven faculty, three were also alumni. The participants span from five different countries that they consider their hometown, one United States territory, and twenty different states. Vassar class years span from 1969-2024. Of the twenty-eight participants who graduated or will graduate from Vassar, twenty different majors are accounted for. Overall when including correlates and departments that faculty teach in, sixteen Vassar departments, one interdepartmental program, seven multidisciplinary programs, and one dual-degree program are included in this project. Participants were selected from a multitude of different facets; some I knew and asked, others were recommended to me by students or faculty. Alumni also contacted their Vassar friends for me, and sometimes when a professor was mentioned in an interview, I emailed them and asked if they would like to participate. Overall approximately sixty people were asked, with thirty-two saying yes. 

After someone agreed to participate in this project and we scheduled a time to meet, the process of creating a narrative was the following; conduct the interview, transcribe, and edit the transcription into a narrative. After that, narratives were sent to participants via email and participants were able to make any suggestions or changes that they wanted. After approval from the participant, the narrative was included in the project. Some participants sent me pictures to include as well. 

It is important to note that the experiences of my participants are not the experience of everyone and do not speak for the thousands of Vassar students, faculty, and alumni as a whole. Many of the participants speak highly of Vassar, and maybe that is because they agreed to participate in my project. It is likely that some people who declined to participate don’t share the same sentiments. Not everyone has great experiences here, and I don’t want to paint an idealized picture of this place.