Deerless Pastures

Though the view of Central Park from my twenty-third floor dorm room reminds me that fields do exist in Manhattan, I don’t think there are any deer in the city to roam wild on them. And amidst the many contrasts I’m finding between Deerfield and college, that basic difference in ecosystem seems the most telling.

Beyond the clear contrast of New York City’s concrete grid to Deerfield’s green quads, the unfamiliar landscape of school itself makes life new. Instead of six academic classes, I now have one that meets not four times but twice a week. Instead of a class day followed by co-curriculars, my schedule involves various dance classes and rehearsals from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm. Instead of classmates passionate and educated each about many different disciplines, my class consists entirely of students aiming solely and soulfully for a career in dance.

I’d long anticipated the shock that such thorough reformatting of my life’s environment might have had on my freshman year, but really what I’ve realized is how ready I was and am to migrate into college ecology. Deerfield prepares us well for changes in scenery, for I think the learning in living that all our Deerfield teachers value lasts through shifts in space. I may be studying new subjects in new classrooms, but I can still rely energetically on the way Deerfield taught me how to learn. I miss Deerfield, and all of you, but I’m glad to stay in touch (thank you, Scroll!), and I surely feel Deerfield present in my dancing every day.

Ingrid Kapetyn ’09 participated in Deerfield’s dance program and was a literary editor of Albany Road. She now attends Julliard in New York City.