by Karen Bowen '86
There is no single story that sticks out from my time at Williams, now some 35 years distant. The painful, difficult moments that everyone occasionally experiences at college have, fortunately, receded. While snippets of amusing memories remain, the effort to describe the context in which they occurred would far outweigh the bright, fleeting highlight that unexpectedly pops into my mind and makes me smile.
Rather, far more important for the sustenance of my positive association with Williams are the warm bubbles of memories that persist, ranging from the exceptionally thoughtful Secret, Secret Santas who cheered me up one December, to learning and winning mutual respect from an idiosyncratic math teacher and, best of all, the wonderful experience of having an admired teacher, Zirka Filipczak, become a colleague and friend.