in my mind's zen garden

Dexter Gate: “Enter To Grow In Wisdom”

      Share    May 18, 2010 | Zen Musings
     

Being that my niece is graduating from Harvard next week, I wanted to congratulate her and wish her well when she begins graduate studies in the Fall. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law placed an announcement in The 2010 Harvard Yearbook, congratulating their daughter on her graduation.

Below is the photo used. You can click on it to get the big picture:

Amanda at 10, and as a Freshman at Dexter Gate, Harvard.

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A Note from the Proud Parents…

…We had a picture of her when she was about 10 years old in front of the Harvard gate and one when she was an incoming Freshman in front of the same gate. Diana [our oldest daughter] photoshopped the two pictures and we put all your names on the bricks of the Harvard gate symbolizing your help in raising Amanda. This was published in the Harvard Yearbook 2010. We are enclosing the ad.

From Babyhood To Adulthood

[L-R] – brother-in-law Amante, niece Amanda, my son Cameron, and my wife.

. . . .

It’s somehow surreal yet amazing as well, to watch babies grow up into young adults. And such, like with my own children, it is a miracle to watch them grow, from learning how to crawl and walk, starting school, watching them in school performances to learning how to drive and getting accepted into a university… it happens everyday, but it’s still a miracle just the same.

[L-R] Cameron and Amanda (nephew Alex in the background)

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Diana, Amanda and Cameron on our trip to Yosemite.

I confess that watching my niece grow up, she was a bit of a handful, meaning that she was exceptionally bright, a whirlwind of activity, and a natural born leader. In fact, my sister-in-law recently related to me how my niece had lots of things planned for us when we’d visit them in Santa Barbara… hikes, nature walks, swimming and other activities. I think my niece planned everyone’s agenda for the weekend, it seemed. Maybe I was a bit reluctant, but because of my easy going nature I usually went along with “the plan”. Looking back, that kind of leadership quality, enthusiasm and determination is to be commended.

Then suddenly, she grew older and became quite busy. We didn’t see much of her, until she graduated from high school, and occasionally she’d visit us during holidays from Harvard, and now she’s graduating! When people tell you just how quickly time flies, I feel a bit melancholic, realizing just how fast it had flown.

[L-R] Cameron, Diana, Jordan and Amanda

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So here we are now. Cameron is in his third year at UC Riverside, Diana is doing graduate studies at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, Jordan is going to graduate from high school and is planning to attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Amanda will graduate from Harvard and do graduate studies somewhere in England.

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Amanda with all her friends during High School graduation.

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About Dexter Gate

Erected in 1901 and designed by Charles F. McKim, the 1890 Gate was a gift of Mrs. Wirt Dexter in memory of her son Samuel Dexter, Class of 1890, who died in 1894. The gate leads into one of the arched passageways that cut through Wigglesworth.

Two inscriptions by Harvard President Charles William Eliot adorn the gate itself: on the outside, “Enter to grow in wisdom”; on the inside, “Depart to serve better thy country and thy kind.”

Congratulations, Amanda! We are very proud of your achievements, and we wish you the best in the future…

Related Tags: boston, Cambridge, Dexter Gate, graduate studies, graduation, Harvard, RISD, Simplicity, UCR, undergraduate studies, University of Hawaii