I teach at Mills College, an impressively diverse institution by any measure. Still, even the full student body cannot measure up to the diversity on campus during the days leading up to the beginning of the school year. Despite the class, race, gender, and age diversity that they bring to the campus, all of the students have one thing in common–they are all enrolled in college. During the weekend before the fall semester begins, the campus is buzzing with parents, spouses, partners, children, grandparents, and friends, all of whose experiences cover an even broader range of experiences and backgrounds than those of the loved ones they’ve come to drop off.

The man in this drawing was the first to emerge from a car full of women, one of whom was about to enter her first year of college. Between asking me for directions and making sure the student in question was carrying the paperwork she needed, it took the rest of the people in the car a few additional minutes to get out. Through all of this, the man in this drawing seemed content to wait quietly, and he stood beside the vehicle, gazing at the scenery and striking this memorable pose.

Ajuan Mance