Aaron Grober

Vassar is a place where I learned far less about biochemistry, and far more about myself than I could have ever anticipated. I entered Vassar as a far-left-leaning, somewhat flamboyant, and very inflexibly focused boy, and I'm graduating as a left-moderate, very-not flamboyant, and much more open-minded adult. How did this transformation occur?

When I arrived on that unbearably, disgustingly hot/ humid day in mid-August 2007, I was outrageously excited to be in a place that embraced my (what I thought to be) hyper-liberal social ideals, passion for the arts, and homosexuality. I knew I was supposed to be a drama and biochemistry double-major with a focus on pre-med, while keeping my options open for a performing career, should I decide to give it a try before medical school.

Everything was on-track until I decided to run for Main House Freshmen Representative, more or less on a whim. I would never dream of running for student government positions in high school, particularly as a somewhat unpopular drama/ nerdy type. Winning that election, and serving in that position catapulted me into a totally new world, one that enabled my metamorphosis into the person I've become.

The remainder of freshman year was more or less a balancing act between embracing the life I wanted to live, and the one I was supposed to. Grades flailed as wildly as my interests and aspirations, priorities changed on almost a weekly basis. Relationships came and (mostly) went, and I ended the year much more confused than when I started. Sophomore year, I got in touch with my party-planning side as Main's Vice President, while honing in on medicine as a likely career choice. Drama had fallen by the wayside; while I enjoyed performing, I could never seem to fully grasp the concept of drama as an "art" in the way my studies were attempting to convey it. I have the utmost respect for the work that my formerly fellow Drama majors can do, but I realized that it just wasn't for me. Student government, on the other hand, was becoming a more prominent and meaningful aspect of my life. I decided to run for VP for Activities going into junior year, ironically because of the incredible series of hoops I had to jump through to make a Main House-sponsored pool-party get off the ground.

Serving as the 2009-2010 VSA VP for Activities was an unbelievably challenging experience. Last year marked a very tumultuous period for the college as we all struggled to weather the global financial crisis. As a member of the executive board, I often felt that students were holding us responsible, myself at least partially, for some of the college's decisions, though none of those conversations were within the purview of my position. I spent upwards of 30 hours per week, between committee meetings, event approvals, exec meetings, council meetings, office hours, and organizational work, on behalf of Vassar students, to ensure that the VSA's resources were best being used to meet an unbelievably diverse group of students' needs. I don't believe a student ever thanked me for the work I was doing; it seemed though that few hesitated to complain when I had to make an unpopular decision. I learned a great deal from my experience in this role about management, working with others, and standing by tough choices. They weren't easy lessons to learn, but I don't question for an instant that they have made me a stronger person.

There were a lot of reasons why I decided to take-off the fall semester of this year. Working full-time as a Starbucks barista while all my friends struggled through the typical stress of papers and exams was admittedly glorious. As time would tell, the joke was ultimately on me; second semester was painful. I'm grateful that despite my partial "absence," I was still afforded the opportunity to continue to work on behalf of Vassar students. This year, working on and with the senior class council was a somewhat defining capstone experience. Being a part of creating the "senior experience" for our class was both an unbelievable amount of fun, and essential in grounding me in the finality of my Vassar experience.

Then of course was the 2011 All School Gift. As one of the original co-chairs (I'll spare the drama), I proudly played a role in our decision to take advantage of the sesquicentennial, our class's passion for promoting campus sustainability, and a generous group of alums, thus establishing the largest student-driven gift ever given to Vassar. I am honored and humbled to have played a part in rewriting Vassar history with this project.

My Vassar career has come full-circle in some ways, but I feel that I'm approaching the world with a new perspective. Vassar gave me that opportunity to make my own decisions and judgments, and allowed me to become the person I am. Because I'm so much more comfortable in my own skin, I came to realize that being myself does not mean being flamboyant. My experience working in student government at Vassar during the economic crisis allowed me to see many perspectives on how the college "should" operate, and has made me much more of an economic moderate. While med school is still the next step for me (hopefully), the when and where are uncertain. My game plan for next year is uncertain. My experience here has taught me that you can make as many plans as you want, but the universe is rarely inclined to let things go your way. And that's okay.

—Aaron Grober was the Vassar Student Association (VSA) vice president for activities, co-Chair of the VSA Board of Elections and of the 2011 All-School Gift.