Diamonds in the Rough
The other day I was sitting in The Lamron office in the mailroom for what I thought would be a time to eat lunch and an excuse to spend some time hanging out with my some of The Lamron’s editors, Kaitlin Anzalone (editor of the Opinion section) and Emma Mincer (co-editor of the News section).
Now, anyone who has ever seen The Lamron office, (which probably includes every member of the student body, at some point or another) knows that it is jam-packed with a myriad of stuff, including furniture, books, old printings of the paper and pictures of the years and decades gone by. For a nerd like myself, it is fascinating stuff.
On several occasions before this day, I had expressed my interest in wanting to look through the archives, as seeing old pictures of the school carries some kind of nostalgic feeling for a time I’ve never experienced. Luckily, Kaitlin was fully willing to support my interest in looking through these relics.
One by one, books came off the shelf and out of the back corner, knocking off years of dust and abandonment considering that this office has not really been used since the spring of 2020. As each of these pieces of Geneseo history unfolded in front of us, we stood in awe of times past. We ended up finding the first printing of the paper ever—that’s from 1922, people—as well as yearbooks dating back to 1936, when SUNY Geneseo was no more than the “State Normal School.” By my estimation, when that book was published, there were only two buildings on campus: Welles and Old Main.
As Emma began to pour over the old bound copies of the newspaper, we got to see the evolution of the school. There were some really funny cartoons from when Southside was new, and yes, they were still coupling about the street. Some of the cartoons may have been funny if they made any sense nowadays. We were able to see the extensive record of this school's growth into what we know it to be today.
Now, you may ask why I am boring you with the story, but I promise I have a point. The best memories are made not by carefully-laid plans, but are instead those little spontaneous pockets of time you spend not escaping from or running towards something. These couple of hours I stole away in The Lamron office are the perfect example.
What I thought would be a great way to kill time, chat, and eat my lunch, turned into two hours of uncovering beautiful memories. In one of the yearbooks is a picture of my great grandmother, a 1960 graduate from a sadly now-defunct program who attended Geneseo as a middle-aged widow looking to improve her employment prospects. My point is that the best memories and best discoveries come from where you least expect them.
The same thing happened just a few days later when, after a meeting, four of us decided we wanted to go to Starbucks. We proceeded to stay and chat for two hours. These are the things that I will remember about college, and the experiences that I will never be able to replicate no matter how hard I try.
We should never set out with the intent of something being memorable as you cannot plan these things. The best moments come when you spontaneously meet a friend, or friends, and go on a journey through time, space, and life.