Life At Ripon – Rachel Detrie ’15

Chapter 4: Looking Forward, Looking Back

[Editor’s Note: Rachel Detrie ’15, Clarence Sanon ’15 , and Kaitlyn Welzen ’15 are writing rotating monthly entries for the Ripon College Newsletter chronicling their senior year experiences. We hope you enjoy their perspectives on Life At Ripon!]

It is finally May and, as I’m writing this, it is only a matter of days before I get to cross the stage for Commencement! It still feels like the end of any semester with final papers, projects, and exams to study for, and it is hard to comprehend that this will be my last couple of weeks as a student at Ripon College.

Even though I will no longer be a Ripon College student soon, I am not done being a student. After all the applications, interviews, and offers, I have accepted an offer to pursue my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Central Michigan University. I have been fortunate enough to receive a tuition scholarship and an assistantship while earning my degree as well. I am very excited to start graduate level courses, participate in a research team, and begin clinical work. Trying to plan out the move to Michigan and finding an apartment out there has been a stressful but exhilarating process, but I think I have finally figured it all out. I look forward to taking this next step that will hopefully bring me closer to my future career aspirations of teaching at the collegiate level and conducting my own research.

As excited and ready as I am to leave Ripon, there will be many things that I miss. I have had incredible experiences in these short four years that I would not trade for anything. I have had tremendous psychology and sociology professors that both challenged and inspired me in countless ways, and I cannot stress what a tremendous impact they have had on my life. I have taken courses that changed my perspective of the world and given me the skills to make a contribution to society. I made friends that I will keep in touch with for years to come, and memories that I won’t soon forget. I joined a sorority, served as Vice President, had some of the greatest times of my life, and became a better woman. I ran a half-marathon and somehow didn’t come in last. I worked with children who spoke patois and climbed the tallest mountain in Jamaica. I coauthored a piece that is getting published. I did things and accomplished things while at Ripon that I never imagined I ever would. Because of all of this, I know that when I cross the stage at commencement I will be a better person than I was when I first stepped on this campus.

I might be running out the door a bit faster than many of my peers, but I will truly miss this place and am thankful for all that it has given me. I am looking forward to taking my last exam and turning in that final paper so I can enjoy my closing days at Ripon. I am also looking forward to participating in senior week activities once all of the school work is finally done! It will be nice to kick back and celebrate our time at Ripon with a Timber Rattlers game, cookout, and the always fun pub crawl. Somewhere between all the fun activities, I will have to pack up my apartment and with it, my years at Ripon. Closing this chapter of my life will truly be a bittersweet moment.

Rachel Detrie ’15

Posted May 18, 2015 in Alumni, Student.

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