Last spring, Swarthmore College paid for me to skip two days of classes and go on an all-expenses-paid beach vacation with dozens of my best friends. Allow me to explain!
Like many first-years, I showed up on move-in day knowing nobody. Orientation week helped, especially with all of the icebreaker activities and small groups we found ourselves in, but the ultimate solution to my conundrum, in my mind, remained the same: join as many clubs as possible.
Even though I had an idea of the sort of clubs I wanted to join, I still found it helpful to walk through our semester-ly club fair—where all clubs on campus can request a table to represent themselves on Magill Walk. I spent about an hour walking around and hearing pitches on why I should join Swarthmore’s Tango or Chess or Archery or Biology club, ad infinitum.
I knew that I wanted to join a fencing club since before I even applied to college, but seeing the fencers at their table only cemented my choice. It was apparent: Joining a club sport must be a serious friendship cheat code.
And a cheat code it was! Between triweekly practices and waking up at 4 AM on a Sunday to drive to another school, fence all day, and pass out in the van on the way back, we spent hours together every week.
These early morning trips sent me all across the Northeast. Before coming to Swarthmore, I had rarely ventured outside of a 6-hour-drive radius from my home, and attending tournaments hosted by various schools in our conference was a great chance for me to broaden my horizons and explore the Northeast. In my first year alone, I visited Baltimore, MD, Washington, D.C., Poughkeepsie, NY, and Millersville, PA. The best part was, as part of Swat’s cash-free campus policy, everything I did with the fencing club was free! The gear, the travel, the registration fees—even lunch!
Come April 2024, it was time for Nationals, which, as my luck would have it, were held in Virginia Beach, VA, which was only a six-hour jaunt from Swarthmore.
As the final tournament of the year, Nats, as we call it, involves two back-to-back twelve-hour days of fencing, which is why we leave the Friday before and return the following Monday. It. was. exhausting, but also the most fun I’d ever had (even, and especially, when I got demolished 15-0 by an actual Olympian(!!) just 2 years my senior).
I’ve never been much of a beach person, but that weekend was different. Reluctantly, I joined my teammates as we sprinted in circles on the sand, trying to “run horizontally,” whatever that meant. We attempted cartwheels, buried each other in sand, and walked the pier at 1:00 in the morning.
It’s a little funny that one of my favorite Swat memories didn’t actually happen at Swat—but are college memories really supposed to be about classes, campus, or dining? I think, while they can be, they don’t have to. I think, probably, they’re about the people you choose to spend your time with. The ones who make marathon road trips (or study sessions) fun, the ones who stay up too late talking after practices, and the ones who don’t mind that you’re terrible at beach cartwheels.
When I think about what my life will be like 5, 10, 20 years post-graduation, I realize that I probably won’t remember the problem sets, the papers, or the little tasks that currently fill my days. What I will remember, I hope, will be my friends—the hours I spent driving a van full of my teammates before the sunrise, and, especially, my time at Virginia Beach, fully funded by good ol’ Swarthmore College.
