Profile
November 4, 1999
9
Squirrel Alex reflects on life at a changing Elon
Bryan Skeen
The Pendulum
As October closes, warm days
of sunshine are being replaced by
shorter, cooler ones. Crispy, col
ored leaves are falling to cover the
piles of acorns left unburied.
Alex has seen the change be
fore, as it happens every year. This
year, however, just like the year
before it, seems somehow differ
ent. The changes individually are
subtle, but their sums are dramatic.
Alex is a squirrel, and he lives
at Elon College.
He’s been here a little over
three years that he can remember—
squirrel memories aren’t quite as
extensive as that of the humans he
mainly shares campus with—and
he lives in one of the large oaks used
to shadow graduation every year.
What he lacks in memory, though,
Alex seems to make up for in his
insight.
Perhaps this vision comes
from his lifestyle. While most of
the humans are caught up in money
and responsibility , Alex is only look
ing to do what he always does: find
acorns, eat acorns, bury acorns.
Thus, he spends much of his time
observing and pondering his sur
roundings.
And if you ask Alex about
Elon, his home for these three re
membered years, he can only de
scribe it as different. His little ro
dent brain can’t analyze causes and
blueprints and statistics, but he
knows when things are out of char
acter with tradition. He can see
when things are not as he has ever
known them to be.
About three weeks ago,
Alex’s life was tragically changed.
A great oak tree, one of the largest
to tower near West hall was re
moved completely. He didn’t live
in the tree, though many of his fam
ily did, but he often climbed to the
tops of its branches to look over the
campus.
Alex could sit in that tree all
day and marvel at the way things
had changed across the campus.
Giant buildings that so recently had
not been present at all now domi
nated the landscape. Multitudes of
students and cars that never seemed
to be there before, at least not in
such great number, covered what
used to seem such a silent Elon.
Sidewalks had moved. Trees were
cut down, and youthful saplings
were planted in their place.
Amongst all the change, how
ever, Alex knew the loss of the oak
tree was the metaphor for it all.
Through campus fires and numer
ous presidents (both national and
collegiate), this tree had survived.
Why, Alex could even remember
several great storms in his three
short years that had failed to topple
it. Though the tree had stood for
dozens of years, outliving the build
ings and beings that walked be
neath, it was now gone, seemingly
without cause or merit.
Squirrels are very big on tra
dition. The elder squirrels in every
family always pass down from gen
eration to generation the legacy that
is a pattern for life. Find acorns. Eat
acorns. Bury acorns. Brutally
simple, it’s all a squirrel needs.
That’s why Alex is so wor
ried about the loss of the big oak
tree. Sure, he knows there are doz
ens more like it that he and his
friends can inhabit. Certainly
enough nuts exist to support them
for as long as they care to stay.
Why, though, after a hundred
years is the oak no longer welcome
at Elon?
Alex says he’s heard the hu
mans say it’s all a part of “the plan,”
this great intangible vision that
seems to have consumed them all
and made them lose sight of what
Elon really is supposed to be.
Stadiums and new buildings
and a spiffy new mascot aren’t re
ally the things that make Elon the
college it has always aspired to be,
says Alex. In fact, those things
make Elon always what it struggled
not to be: a carbon-copy college.
Courtesy Bob’s Backyard Squirrels
Alex ponders the future of Elon from his perch in
a big oak tree outside of Virginia hall.
Alex knows he can’t do any
thing about the changes for they are
much bigger than him. Even if he
gathered his extensive squirrel fam
ily and friends and banned together,
nothing would come of his revolt.
So Alex spends his days in a
silent sadness as he works the acorn
rounds of Elon. Sure, he knows he
will not live forever. But soon he
will be the elder squirrel and have to
tell the youth about the world’s pri
orities: Find acorns. Eat acorns.
Bury acorns.
Or, maybe now that’s not
enough. One tree at a time, the
world of Elon is changing. Afield
becomes a lot and a forest becomes
a building. Now, it appears, what
worked so well for a hundred years
must be changed.
Granted, the leaves on the
ground still look the same. The
autumn air still smells as brisk. But
Alex the squirrel feels the bitter
changes molding his world. If only,
he wishes, humans making those
changes could appreciate them too.
CAREERi^FOCUS
Elon Career Center « lOlDuke
* 584-2538 * Monday-Fxiday * 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
CAREER
EXPLORATION
SERIES
Room 115 McMichael Science Center
WORKSHOPS
(to prepare you for the Job Fair on November 17* 18 and Fall On-campus Recruiting)
Success at the Job Fair Wednesday, November 10 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Interview Prep and Practice Friday, November 11 10:00 - 11:00 am
Success at the Job Fair Monday, November 15 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Interview Prep and Practice Tuesday, November 16 1:30 - 2:30 pm
All workshops held in the Career Center in Duke 101
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
• Careers in Science - November 8
• Careers in Communications - November 9
• Careers in Social Service - November 10
• Careers in Leisure & Sports Med./Mgt. - Nov. 11
• Careers in Business - December 1
Sign up at the Career Center or call us at 584-2538
to reserve a spot for any of the panel
presentations that interest you.
McGladrey & Pullen
Seeking students interested in Accounting positions.
Drop your resume by tlie Career Center by November 15.
NC State Government Internship &
The Institute o! Government Internship Programns
Tuesday - November 16
9:50 -10:20 - College Coffee 10:20 -11:00 a.m. - Career Center
WWW.elon
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