Monica Roberts, Editor

There comes a day...

a note from the editor

May 1st 1979, the day I arrived on the Woodstock campus it was a very long time ago. Yet it seems like it was only yesterday that I got off the bus at Picture Palace after a 48 hour train ride from Bombay and a one and a half hour ride up the hill in a bus. I was met at the bus station by a friend from Bombay who was working at Woodstock. We walked from Picture Palace to the Quad where I was met with my wonderful mentors from Bombay – James and Willi Barton. I had just come to visit them on a short vacation and it never occurred to me that this would be my home for the next 43 years.

What an incredible journey this has been, one that I would not have traded for anything else in the world. Each memory embedded deep in my heart and never fails to bring a smile on my face or a tear in my eye. I always wanted to pen down my Woodstock journey, but my mind pauses at the overwhelming emotions that would be ever so hard to express in words.

Eric and I met at Woodstock and our girls Becky and Aradhana graduated from here. As a family we have formed some long lasting bonds with former students as well as staff. Bonds that have kept us together throughout these years. I started my career at Woodstock as a receptionist, then moved into the dorms as a dorm parent, later worked in the accounts department and finally made my way to the development office. Having the opportunity to experience Woodstock in so many unique dimensions and interact with some amazing people makes Woodstock the gem that it is to me. We are grateful as a family to have experienced community in its true sense.

It has been a privilege to get to know Woodstock students through the past four decades. Not only watching them grow from children to seniors graduating but also seeing them blossom into beautiful, caring human beings who have not only excelled in their own fields but also made a difference in the world they live in. It is always heart-warming to meet with alumni when they return to visit, sometimes alone, and sometimes with children of their own and see that twinkle in their eye.

Now, after 43 years of working with the alumni community I will officially be an alumnus as of June 2022. Eric became an alumna in June 2021. It will be strange to finally join all of you out there, but we will finally be able to identify with all the emotions and feelings of having lived the Woodstock experience.

Much has changed at Woodstock, but I hope that the very essence of the place, the magic of living in a bubble, the kind, compassionate, and caring community that I have had the privilege of getting to know over the years continues to permeate through every soul that passes through here.

I would like to take this time to thank all of you for the love and care that each one of you have always showered on our family. Thank you for your friendship over the years. And finally I would like to thank and praise God for bringing me to Woodstock and for being with us throughout these years and for His love and blessings.

This is not a goodbye, but an adieu and I hope that we will continue to stay connected with all of you from this wonderful community.

Monica Roberts