A tree with leaves still holding on from last year.
I was out taking in some fresh air on this warm (50s) morning while on campus. I walked by this tree and besides the fact that I can see the ground around it (OMG--it's grass!), I marvelled at the many leaves that still clung to it. First, it reminded me of my favorite children's book, The Fall of Freddie the Leaf. Though because this was on campus, it made me think about the comparisons between the leaves on the tree and our students at North Shore Community College. It takes a lot of determination to stay on the tree, especially through the winter that we had and yet these leaves clung tightly, just like our students who often face insurmountable odds and yet we find they still hold on. I don't want to take the analogy too far because it largely falls apart after that, but there is something to be said about our students that reminds me of those students.