Reports From Our Fellows Archives
A First for KWF Gatherings:
Class of ’02 Reunes in Tuscany
Perhaps it was simply the case of finding ourselves under a statue in the hot deserted square, under one of the many statues that honor liberty in Old Europe, that helped us understand what it was that had cemented a friendship begun at the University of Michigan, one of the strongholds of liberal American culture.
There was an uncertainty binding us—uncertainty that followed the events of September 11, an event that disseminated the unknown to the whole world. In fact, if 12 Americans and six foreigners (families included), all University of Michigan Journalism Fellows during the 2001-2002 academic year, were the first in the 30-year history of the Fellowship program to feel the need to spend an international vacation together, it was because the first time they all embraced occurred during that tragic September morning two years ago, only a week after classes had begun.
In Tuscany, a region of political factions but also free in spirit, we met again in a farmhouse for two weeks as if we were veterans returning from an international, personal, and professional big-bang event, feeling nostalgic for the intimacy that the uncertainty had given us. It was almost an experiment—an experiment to see how many would come. And most of us made it. We numbered 25, families included. And those who couldn’t make it were justified absentees. Next time, probably in Patagonia!
Excerpted from Corriere della Sera, where Mian is a special correspondent. Translated by University Translators Service.
“We all work very hard (well, most of us anyway), and our money and vacation time is precious. Yet many of us were able to find a way to travel across the Atlantic to spend it with people we never knew existed before September 2001. We have become chosen family—with all the frustrations, joys, disputes, laughs, misunderstandings and support that come from one. I kept having that realization throughout our trip, as we lumbered en masse from city to city. How remarkable. And I can remember many a conversation that summoned the spirit of those not there. We were all there, and it was indeed ... remarkable.”
Michelle Genece,
Freelance Producer, New York
“As someone who travels constantly for a living, I don’t think I got excited about this trip until David Edmonds and I showed up at Rome Fiumicino airport to pick up a very jetlagged Matthew Eisley. Seeing Matthew and Margo Hernandez emerge bleary eyed from customs made me realize how much I liked being with this group of people and how much I had missed everybody. By the time we gathered for dinner around the big picnic table that first night, it seemed we had never been apart.”
Bradford Wernle,
Automotive News Europe, London
“The trip to Italy brought me lots of images, feelings, flavors and meanings. First, because I could meet these great people and see that time and distance don’t matter when you have a connection with people. And we do have connections. I am sure that some of them are really special. I want to meet these people again and share my life.
Second, when you go far away from your home, you have the time to remember your dreams, your goals in life. For me, it was a great time to remember all of them. Italy has gorgeous landscape, wonderful food, hot weather: a great chemistry. I really discovered a little bit of me, my family, and my past.”
Dalen Jacomino,
Você S.A., São Paulo
