Déjà view

This year my son Ben is happily enrolled in his first year as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, which provides me with the new and pleasant experience of being an alumni parent for the first time. To the enormous surprise and delight of our family, Ben not only happens to be in the same dorm that I was in for my freshman year at the U of C, but in the very same room I was in. As far as we know, this is entirely a coincidence, since Ben did not even request that dorm.

When the announcement of Ben’s room assignment arrived this August, I let out a howl of laughter. To go there in person with him on entering day in September was even more powerful. It was the first time I had set foot in Woodward Court in about 30 years. And there was my boy, standing on the same floor I stood on, hanging his towel on the same towel bar, clothes in the same closet, posters on the same cinder block walls, looking out the same window at Robie House across the street.

I must say, it gives new meaning to the phrase “déjà vu”! And it certainly made it easier for me to let my little (6 foot) chickie leave the nest, knowing that he is in the same place that I once called mine. It is a kick! I thought U of C friends and fellow alums would enjoy learning about this. I think it is a wonderful thing the housing office did, and I recommend it to other families. I don’t think it diminishes in any way my son’s chance to make his college experience his own, it just gives it some contextual history and an added dimension. Cheers to the housing office!

Mary Eisenberg, AB’72
Lexington, MA