A Welcome & A Good-bye!

Hello everyone,

As the summer draws to an end, I’m sure everyone is wondering about the future of the VAST program.  I’m writing to introduce you all to the new VAST Fellow for 2011-2012, Francis Meyo. Francis and I have been working together this summer to make sure that the transition for the new year is as seamless and smooth as possible.  We have decided to compose this e-mail together to both kick off the new year, and in my case, say one final goodbye.

Karishma’s part:

As I’ve said in an earlier e-mail, I have been so incredibly thankful to get to know and work with your families over the past two years.  I’m still in shock that most of you trusted me with your children, and I’ve been so happy to be a small part of your families.  I will definitely miss the chaos of VAST as I move into the next phase of my life.  VAST has been so important in shaping who I am, and I hope that your families continue to develop this relationship with Vassar that we started.  I know that the new fellows are excited to engage your students as they enter high school with our various programs, and I know that over the past two years we have allowed the needs of your families to come first as we created programming.  Again, thank you all so much for everything!  Thank you for coming to family events, and parent meetings, and just generally dealing with the high demands of the program (including my incessant e-mails!).  You have all been an amazing support system, and I will miss Poughkeepsie so much.

As you may already know, I will be going on to grad school in just a few weeks, as I pursue a M.A. in Sociology & Education at Teachers’ College, Columbia University.  If you ever want to get in touch with me for anything (students and parents both!) including: high school advice, pre-college guidance, letters of recommendation for National Honor Society, don’t hesitate to shoot me an e-mail at karishma.chanda@gmail.com.  You can even Facebook friend me as well!  (I’m not linking that directly, you can look for me!) As a grad student, I will probably spend way too much time on the internet and would love to hear from all of you.  Please stay in touch!

Francis’s part:

Greetings VAST family,  As Karishma said, I’m Francis and I’m the new Karishma. I am from Nairobi, Kenya and graduated from Vassar College this past Spring. Apart from the academic year, I’ve also spent quite sometime in Poughkeepsie during school breaks. I like Poughkeepsie and love the people I’ve met during my stay here; my home away from home . I’ve spent part of this summer shadowing Karishma in all her VASTness and I am excited for the year ahead! I hope you are too. I look forward to meeting each and everyone of you.

To a wonderfully productive and enjoyable 2011-2012 year, I say GO VAST!

Thanks again,
-Karishma & Francis

A Tear & A Smile