Admit One

Have you ever been jealous of someone you just met? Irrationally so? I'm in the throes of said envy at the moment, having just returned from an event welcoming the newly admitted Stanford class of 2013. They walked in: anxious, beaming, overdressed, pimply, adorable, grinning, gangly, coiffed, jaunty, shining, eager, beautiful. I extended greetings, shook hands, congratulated parents, answered questions, had lemonade, digested the ridiculous statistics (7.1% admission rate, 30K+ applicants, $54K annual cost), hated the alumni speaker (pretentious jerk). So far, I'm completely fine, if a bit long in the tooth. But then the faculty speaker began to talk, and suddenly I was filled with this longing to learn again, to be 17 and walk into a classroom for the first time. I wanted it so badly I literally could not breathe for a moment. They have no idea what's coming, but I do.