It is almost incredible to believe that, like in Garcia Lorca’s famous play, almost five years have passed since we walked through the Van Wickle Gates, away from College Hill in the direction of our dreams and expectations, our high hopes and profound fears.
It is even more incredible to realize that since that seeming "last" moment the Brown community has always been there with unyielding strength. The story of my life during these last five years is only one more testament of this self-evident truth.
My first stop after graduating from Brown took me just one Amtrak stop down to New Haven, where the challenges of enrolling in a new university became more manageable with the meetings of the local Brown alumni club and the already familiar faces in the graduate, law and medical schools.
After two years at Yale and a Master of Arts in Economics I went further south to the nation’s capital to adventure in the intricacies of the World Bank. Once again, the challenges of adapting to a new city and the transition towards the working life were eased by the many Brown friends who had already established themselves in DC. Professional achievements aside, perhaps my greatest DC memories are those with some of my old Brown friends.
Brown alumni and students have also served as key mentors, travel companions around the world and simply good friends. Since graduation Brown has exerted such a lively presence in my life that it has now become a new reality. Indeed, deciding to pursue my Ph.D. in Economics once again at Brown has felt as a homecoming of sorts.
Though several of the buildings have changed the place remains essentially the same. However, I now miss in Providence my closest and truest friends from the outstanding class of 06. That is precisely the reason why I am looking forward so much to our reunion in May.
Greetings from Providence and my hometown Bogota,
Felipe Valencia
401-225-4969
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