Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Spring has finally arrived, so too the accepted prospective students of Swarthmore class of 2011. Over three hundred students were expected on campus for Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20, participating in the annual “Ride the Tide” events for accepted students.
The weather on Friday was especially conducive to welcoming prospective students. One student from Long Island still deciding on where she would go observed that “Every time I come here the weather is beautiful! I’ll have to come back next weekend or something and hope for rain, just to see… but it’s like a sign or something!”
Steve Dean, a prospective student from Conshohocken, PA, became certain that Swarthmore was the place for him during his experiences at Ride the Tide. To Dean “Swarthmore is the only place I’ve ever been… where you can discuss Nietsczhe at 4 am and not feel the least bit weird.” His favorite events of the weekend included Indoor Soccer with Jim Bock, Stargazing and Liquid Nitrogen at the Science Center, and the Boy Meets Tractor and Vertigo-go performances.
“Ride the Tide settled the score once and for all and confirmed for me that I do indeed feel comfortable in Swat’s environment and that I am ridiculously eager to come back to Swat this August/September and pick up all these wonderful conversations where they left off.” Dean added in an e-mail sharing his responses after RTT.
Other well attended events included Earthlust’s Sleepout on Parrish Beach, especially impressive given the chilly temperatures in the forties. The Activities Fair, one of the last on the schedule, met with moderate attendance, possibly due to prospective students having already departed or the attendance of prospective students at classes open to them during the same time slot. One student observed that this was his least favorite event as there was “not enough time to see much” since he was in a class during most of the fair.
Most students, however, were enthusiastic about the events. Noted one especially excited spec, “I wish this could go on forever!”
