Small colleges tend to have a bad reputation: everybody will know each other's business, the classes are small, there is limited space, you see the same people for four years, etc., etc. However, they have some advantages too: the classes are small which means better connection with your teachers, better networking opportunities, more quiet time, more time to yourself, more time to focus, etc., etc.

For me, the advantages would be the people I have grown to know. Not people as in friends, although I am grateful for them as well. I mean the people that, if I were at a different campus, I would never have met; more specifically, the non-office workers who form part of the college. It’s not like I have formed a deep connection with any of them; they’re more so simple conversations or observations that I’ve made about their nature and things that make me glad I attended this college.

Take for example Evan. He works for the facilities department and he is 59 years old. I work as a receptionist in the residence halls so I often see him walk in and out the building always fixing something. Every time he passes by, he always makes small talk. Over the last two years, I have come to know three things: he was working to get his degree before he had an accident, he had a brain tumor that he has healed from recently, and that he has a wife. All these things wouldn’t be so special to me if he wasn't always so sweet.

He always asks how I am, how is my day, how are my classes, if I have anything planned, and so on. One time last year, he saw me outside of campus (I think it was in the cafeteria) and he asked me if it was me whose picture was hung up in one of the residence halls. At the time, I didn’t know if it was me or not so I said, “I haven’t been to the other building so I don’t know.” He responded by saying that it looked like me and congratulated me. As it turns out, it was me.

Two months ago, I won employee of the month again and he said, “You won employee of the month again? You must be a hard worker! I remember you from last year!” About two weeks ago, since my picture was still up he asked if I had won again, and I responded by saying that no and that we just haven’t picked one yet. I remember him telling me, “Good! They shouldn’t let anyone else win because you are the best!” Then in a low voice he said, “Don’t tell anyone else I said that.” It’s things like these that make a meaningful person to me. He does not know me but he doesn’t have to encourage me. In a very strange way, he is a meaningful person in my life. He is somewhat of a epitome of what human kindness should be. He is not doing anything grandiose, but he makes me smile.

Another person to take into consideration would be Ms. Kisha, the woman who works at the cash register in the cafeteria. She began working here last semester, and quickly won over the students with her humor and overall good nature. I remember once how I forgot my lacrosse stick in the cafeteria; unfortunately, I did not realize it until later at night, long after the cafeteria closed. The next morning when I went to look for it she said, “I knew it was yours, Cat, I just thought you would come back for it. Here, I’ll get it for you.” At that time, I had no idea she knew my name, that she called me by Cat, or that she noticed what my lacrosse stick looked like (since everyone’s was different). She even calls me by “Cat,” a name that people close to me call me by, that in itself is special.

While I was in soccer season this semester, since my practices were always early in the morning, I would go right after to get some breakfast. She would always greet us by saying, “I knew you guys had to come sooner or later!” As soccer season ended, I showed up less and less to breakfast. When I showed up to lunch she would say, “I missed you, Cat”. It’s tiny things like these that make me smile, maybe not at that moment, but later on when I reflect on my day.

I am grateful to have come to College of Saint Elizabeth, for it is only in this college that I am able to see people in this form. In many ways, it’s my last chance to see this side of human nature. I am already a junior and once I graduate, my experiences will become less and less like this - warm and welcoming. Not to say that everything is bad, but there is something refreshing about able to see these things often; I will miss them so much.