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Sooooo… Done with my first year

May 08, 2008

And I want to go back. Of course, not now that campus is empty and all you can hear is the echoing of footsteps across the brick road. I swore to myself when I got here that I would never attach myself to Rollins because I couldn’t find a place that would compare itself to my former school, Colegio Internacional de Carabobo. I grew up there. My mom teaches middle school English there. It took one year of Rollins to prove me wrong and compare itself to 14 years at CIC in Valencia, Venezuela.

Exactly a week ago from today, there was an afternoon reception honoring perhaps the most beloved professor at Rollins: Dr. Pedro Pequeño. He was the first professor I met at Rollins when I came to visit in March of my senior year in high school. Now, a bit over a year since then, at both Panera Bread down Park Ave and the Pita Pit right next door to school they think he’s my father. As Rebeca Montaner, the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs senior award this year, best put it, “He’s a mix of somewhere between a teddy bear and a Hispanic Santa Claus.” His wife and children alongside faculty, staff, alumni and current students dedicated that afternoon for his retirement party. In a very heartfelt speech, his eldest son Peter announced the creation of the Dr. Pedro Pequeño-Rossie Scholarship. He was in tears, and it could not have been a better reward for the culmination of his 36-year career at Rollins.

I feel bad for the incoming freshman who will only hear rumors of who this man was. When I get former Rollins students on tours, most of the time I’ll be asked, “Is Dr. Pequeño still here? I want to stop by and say hi to him!” Even with alumni from the 70’s. His 36 years at Rollins taught us that 1) nobody will tell you the truth like he can, sweet but straightforward, 2) you can always find a reason to smile and 3) his office is pretty much run like a Cuban ministry, it’s always full of people, nobody knows what goes on, and there is always music playing. Rollins won’t be the same in the fall without him and frankly I feel bad for those of you who won’t get the chance to be in his class.

· · · · · · · · · · · · ·

With half of my Venezuelan friends graduating and Dr. Pequeño retiring, coming back in the fall is going to bring lots of changes. I was on the phone with Pedro Kafie, he was my roommate when we went to Mexico for one of Dr. Pequeño’s trips, and he assured me, “it only gets better after your freshman year.”

“What will you miss most about Rollins during the summer?” Andrea Williamson, an admissions counselor posed that question when we were on our way to Tampa for a reception for accepted students of the class of 2012. “The faces.” I simply answered. Whether it be helping Kate Greenberg(also an admissions counselor) move out to her new apartment or Juana at the omelette bar (who for all Latinos out there, she also makes huevos pericos), so many people have made my first year all the worthwhile. I’ve met exceptional professors and I usually don’t go public on favorites but to no one’s surprise, Dr. Pequeño is part of the reason why I am enamored with Rollins.

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