Proclamation & A Letter From My 17 Year Old Self

I have talked before about some of the traditions at the University of Richmond. Being a University with a coordinate college system, Richmond College for men and Westhampton College for women, we are able to maintain some traditions unique to our separate colleges. For Westhampton College, one of the traditions is that of Proclamation. Technically a closed off ceremony involving only those women in their first and fourth year, Proclamation is a well known event on our campus. With 350 women wearing white dresses and 350 women wearing black graduation robes, it would be hard for the entire campus not to know about Proclamation.

In this candlelight ceremony which takes place in our Chapel, the new students are accepted into the college and pledge to a code of honor, as befitting a Westhampton student. Yet the most memorable part of the ceremony, which inevitably brings out a myriad of emotions for the fourth years, is a letter. The first year women write a letter to themselves, talking about dreams, expectations, hopes, and their initial reflections upon the new chapter in their lives, which is University. These letters are sealed and gathered up, until the year comes where it is that first year woman in white's turn to done the black robes of a senior and participate once more in the ceremony of Proclamation.

That leads us to this year, particularly the date of September 18th, when it was my turn to done the black robes, and proceed with my dearest friends into the chapel to accept the new class, and ... read my letter.

Not only were we anxious about knowing the contents of our letters, but we were all reminded of the fact that we will soon graduate and leave this University. Some may view Proclamation as the beginning of the end for our time at University of Richmond, but I refuse to frame it as such. It is, in my interpretation, a sign that a new beginning - our lives beyond Richmond - will soon commence. There are so many possibilities out there, that I see it as impossible not to be optimistic about the future.

Funny enough, it is with a similar attitude that I wrote to myself during my first year at University, 9 days before my 18th birthday. After reading my letter I felt happy. The words written on that page were from a girl who truly did not know all that her University experience had in store for her, yet knew that in many ways her life was going to change. The words I had written were oddly (since it is from myself) motivating, reminding me of things that I knew I did not want to forget. To live and to love were the messages in my letter, and to no matter what, follow my heart. As I decide upon the path that my life will follow after my time at University of Richmond I will hold this at the forefront of my thoughts, for a happy heart is a happy soul, and what else does one want from life.