Damn, it has been 3 years already. Time is flying by and I gotta say, Vassar, you have grown on me.
“You wanna go to school after you get out?”
“Maybe?”
That was my attitude in 2022 when I was being talked to by my Vet friends who had already attended or were in the process of it, and I just did not know how to respond. Much like high school, leaving the military felt like I was once again leaving a familiar place with no direction or real control over what I did in the future. It was a little scary, but like I said, it grew on me. Do not get me wrong, speaking to people and community engagement is not hard. Hell, I call it my bread and butter. But actually caring about the events I am part of, the communities I have engaged with, the people that I have laughed with—it is different. It is new.
I will be the first to tell you that I do not like people. It is a fact and one that I have no guilt in admitting. But something about the students and Vets that I have gotten to know in this school has my heart in a vice every time I attend a new event.
I JUST HAVE SO MUCH FUN!
Rugby has the toughest people on campus for sure. Monsters, Mongrels and Mutts are ready to throw down at a moment’s notice. They are big and tough, but so much deeper, too. They have futures, aspirations and confidence that could only be built on a family of blood, sweat and tears. I have spoken to so many of them and they never cease to amaze me in their efforts to progress in Rugby as well as their own lives. Academic and Athletic pistons run a helluva engine for the drives they place on the field. Every game, playing or not, is the best! Screaming until there is no more air in my lungs, watching my teams scream when they score a try, hyping up the people in the stands; AHHHHHHHHHHHHH it is so much fun it gets my blood boiling just thinking about it!
While Rugby boils my blood, Boxing puts ice in my veins, in a good way. OH MAN, hearing those gloves hit the bag when I am walking in is INCREDIBLE. Seeing anyone on the Crew learn something new, or hearing that breath between strikes just makes me want to RIP THE BAG APART EVERY TIME! You have not LIVED until you have seen someone who could not throw a hook two weeks before, throwing them at a training pad like they have been doing it their whole lives. It is cold as hell when that *SMACK* rings through the room for everyone to smile and look back, egging on whoever is killing the buzzer at that time. These people ARE the HYPE. UGHHHHH I might get my gloves on after this for a nice shadow session outside, just to get out the excitement.
There is so much to do and there will never be enough time to do it all, but with everyone that I have met so far, I do not mind fantasizing about it.
I do not like people, but I like mine.
Vassar, you have given me direction. I was nervous and lost, but now the anxiety has lessened drastically. My hesitation to do anything is damn near gone. I have communities and friends that I see EVERY WEEK! That is so crazy to be able to say. This is not the “me” in my early 20s looking forward to the next time I went to a bar and drowned with the usual suspects. This is the “me” in my late 20s excited on Tuesday for Rugby Practice with the team, excited on Wednesday to read Russian poetry with fellow double majors and excited on Thursday to box with the crew and teach some newbies how to make the pads sing.
It is a growing love.
College, I mean.
It sneaks up on you.
It is not so bad, I guess. The curriculum is kind of hard sometimes and the material is hard to grasp all the time, but it is ok. I have my people. I might not like them, but I will love them until the day I graduate. Then I am dropping ‘em off at the curb. HAHA, could you imagine? Intentionally losing the most healthy and engaging communities I have ever had the opportunity to be part of? AND THE FRIENDS I MADE TOO? That is genuinely insane. Besides, I doubt they would let me. They are kinda scary.
In the end, the point I want to get across is this: talk. Strike a conversation. Tell someone you like their style. Ask about your own interests and find some common ground. Worst case, come to me. I always have time for one more “hello.”
School is school and eventually school ends, but the relationships you build are valuable. I do not mean “networking,” I mean that you have no idea how helpful it is to have a community that genuinely wants the best for you. It changes things, and it could change you if you let it.
My name is Caleb Micah DiBartolo. I am a Philosophy and Russian Studies Double Major. My Rugby team had a perfect season this year for the first time in almost 20 years, Vassar Boxing Club became an official Vassar club three weeks ago, after being in the works for years, I finished a Russian Study Abroad Program this past summer with some of the brightest students I could have ever met and I am my favorite Philosopher right behind Nietzsche and Plato.
Love when you can, but always be ready for a hook.
Thanks, everyone. Really. You have made me better.