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| Hidden inside the plush leatherette cover: a delicate pen-and-ink sketch of the Everett Mansion. |
After graduation, my Southern Vermont College diploma sat hidden on a shelf for years, tucked behind books and gathering dust. Then came the ultimate heartbreak for our community—the closing of SVC.
Grief and nostalgia eventually led me down memory lane, prompting me to pick up that padded folder for the first time in ages.
Opening the plush leatherette cover, I was struck by a detail I had long forgotten: a delicate pen-and-ink sketch of the Everett Mansion facing the certificate!
Surely I noticed it on graduation day. Like most new grads, I inspected my diploma right away to make sure my name was spelled correctly. Seeing President Barbara Sirvis's signature alongside the division chair felt like a true miracle on Mansion Drive, conferring all the rights and privileges of an SVC alumnus.
Yet those subtle flourishes fade from memory over time—only to enchant us when rediscovered decades later.
Having spent four years at SVC, stepping into the Everett Mansion always felt as natural and comfortable as slipping into a favorite pair of shoes. It has been forever and a day since I last walked through those heavy doors, but one glance at that pen-and-ink drawing brings every Bennington memory flooding back.

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