American In Sydney

Dei Sub Numine Viget...

When we walk to the pomp and circumstance of any of our graduations, be it Princeton or Harvard, we are immediately added to a prestigious group of alumni whose role it is to make our alma maters proud. There is an expectation that people from great schools will achieve great things. C'mon all schools are so proud of their elite alumni. I'm sure that anyone can name a handful of famous people who walked through its doors. Princeton - easy - John F. Kennedy (before he was forced to leave for getting jaundice and then enrolled at Harvard), Brooke Shields, Dean Cain, Donald Rumsfeld, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Nash, Leighna ...(okay not yet...But still the list goes on and on.) Every day in college we are reminded of all the greats that attended and when we graduate, we are admitted to the same club as all those before us. However, this membership does not come without a price.

As payment for this "club", we get contacted twice a year to give money in one form or another. Not only are there class dues, but also annual giving. Even before I proudly walked through the gates, Princeton asked me for my first donation. Later , I was contacted to pay my class dues. It took me 2 years to figure out that AG and dues were unrelated and different. I thought I was being smart by giving my $20.01 (signifying the year that I had graduated) but who knew that they would get $25 more by asking me for class dues. If you don't give you're not supporting your class, if you do give, you've just given Princeton more money. But they don't really need anymore money! Princeton hails a $12.7 billion endowment - that's right money they have just hanging around for a rainy day.

How do the universities secure this kind of money? The alumni offices. We have quickly learned that no matter where you are or where you go, the alumni office finds you. I know people who have not updated their contact information and who move so often, but still year after year Princeton comes knocking/calling/emailing/writing for money. The giving percents are incredible (over 60%). All alums are too well aware of the joke that goes: (feel free to move the school's names around)

A Harvard guy, a Yale guy, and a Princeton guy end up on a deserted island. The Harvard guy says, "I'll go try to find some food", the Yale guy says, "I'll try to build some shelter, and the Princeton guy just sits back and closes his eyes for a nap. When the Harvard guy and Yale guy confront him, he says, "I know that the alumni office will find me for annual giving."

We may or may not go to reunions year after year, walk in the p-rade, attend functions at the Princeton club of (insert city name), we may not even read the PAW (Princeton Alumni Weekly) that updates us on ALL classes since 1925. But we have all found the benefits of being in the association of alumni. By walking out the same gates, we all share a connection with Princeton. We went through an expensive 4 years of school yes because it has a beautiful campus, the most incredible professors, activities, the list goes on, but after we've left the gates of the school to the real world, Princeton offers us an incredible growing alumni network.

For the past 5 years I have given annually without miss to better my future children's chances of getting into Princeton just in case the fact that both Jackson and I are alums isn't enough.
But recently, I have witnessed a new reason to give and support this network. Last week, the Princeton Alumni Association of Australia (PAAA) was formed. At its first alumni event, I have met some of the most incredible people who are actively helping me settle into Sydney and helping with my quest to find employment in fields I thought impossible. I have been influenced by the power of the network and I am inspired to continue to give to Princeton to keep the network alive. (I just donated my class dues to Princeton and Harvard).

posted by Leighna @ 3:10 pm