Come to the Edge

When i Was in the high school marching band, our drill instructor would recite something similar to this poem by Guillaume Apollinaire every year as we were about to compete at regionals:

“Come to the edge,” he said.

“We can’t, we’re afraid!” they responded.

“Come to the edge,” he said.

“We can’t, we will fall!” they responded.

“Come to the edge,” he said. And so they came. And he pushed them. And they flew.

There was something about that poem that gave me goosebumps every time—an anticipation of something scary or difficult but also the exhilaration of pushing through and flying to success.

Several years ago, Scott Schroeder ’99 was telling me about Andrew Arnold ’99 and Solid Rock Outdoor Ministries, an organization in Wyoming that Arnold’s father founded. The thought of rock climbing, ice hiking, and backpacking adventures gave me similar chills, being literally on the edge of the world.

I wrote down Arnold’s name and left it on the front of my computer, where it stayed.

Last fall, Nathan Grawe, professor of economics at Carleton College, spent time at Wabash discussing the future of higher education. He described the upcoming “enrollment cliff,” which is walked out a little further by President Scott Feller in this issue’s “From Center Hall.”

That cliff has a similar anticipation as a rock face. Knowing what the College is doing to fly as the edge of the cliff gets closer does bring my blood pressure down. It looks scary for many small liberal arts colleges, but Wabash is prepared to soar straight through to its bicentennial and beyond.

About the same time as Grawe visited in the fall, I revisited Arnold’s story and what it means to be on a literal or a figurative edge. So, I sent an email to you, our readers, asking alumni and friends what your “edge” is. You did not disappoint!

Jim Doyle ’89 shared his thoughts on the country on the edge of a breakdown in democracy. Cal Black ’66 was on the edge of existence when he spent a year undercover pretending he was someone else. Rod Kenley ’72 was on the edge of insolvency as he started a company to develop revolutionary kidney dialysis technology. Stephan Mathys ’99 was on the edge of crumbling in the years preceding and immediately after his wife’s death. And Richard Rose ’54 was on the edge of his seat while being detained by Russian soldiers in East Germany in 1958.

What do you do when you find yourself on the edge? How do you keep going?

Like Paul Radspinner ’85 says, “Believe in yourself and just keep going.”

Kim Johnson | Editor johnsonk@wabash.edu