Curiouser and Curiouser
A girl steps out of Lentz Hall, her name, Alice, is written across the tote bag slung over her shoulder. As she makes her way down Campus Drive, her eyes scan a piece of paper; it is a checklist of graduation requirements, all of which she has fulfilled. She reaches to put the paper into her tote for safe keeping, and as her grip loosens, a gust of wind from Lake Michigan whisks the paper from her grasp. Her eyes widen, panicked, she runs after the sheet. It gets caught in one of the bushes that surrounds the Kissing Rock and Alice bends down to pick it up, pulling her white cardigan tighter over her baby blue shirt. As she goes to pick it up, Alice loses her balance and falls, but it feels as though she is falling forever. It is black all around her.Finally she hits ground and she puts a hand to her head. "What just happened?" she wonders aloud. She finally notices her surroundings; she has landed in a hallway of closed doors. It looks suspiciously like her dorm building, but something feels off. She then realizes that there are plaques on the front of each of the doors. Alice stands up and walks to the first one, "Knowledge," and reaches for the doorknob. She turns it, pushes open the door and finds herself at the lakeside forest. In front of her is a person she has never met, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. They discuss lessons and the pursuit of knowledge. Alice moves closer to him, asking him to clarify his riddled words, when suddenly he begins to fade away. She is left confused and turns around to go back out the door. She walks through, a white light flashes as she passes through.
[Student interviews take place discussing academics at Carthage, how they feel their Carthage education will help them as they move on to their future and what they will take from their time at Carthage.]
She finds herself back in the hallway, and continues to the next door. This one is marked "Accomplishment." She hesitates, but shrugs her shoulders and reaches for the handle once again, opening the door to pass through. She sees a table, filled with teetering stacks of books and papers, then sees a hat peeking out from behind them. Alice sits with the Hatter, and discusses the connection between application of knowledge, imagination and accomplishment. He offers her a cup of tea, which she declines. He begins to ask her why a raven is like a writing desk, and she cannot answer, the scene vanishes and she is left with nothing but the original door, which she passes back through to get to the hallway.
[Student interviews discussing major senior accomplishments and honors. Specific interviews with specific seniors.]
Alice is once again in the hallway, now on a mission to find out what is behind the last two doors. She rushes to the next one, glances at the word "Community," and pushes it open with haste. She is in a flower garden, three girls sit before her. They introduce themselves as Daisy, Orchid, and Rose. They banter back and forth about how they only talk when there is something to talk about, as flowers do. They talk about the importance of being a in a garden instead of a lonely wildflower. The three lie down and are lost among the flowers, and Alice stands to be on her way back through her portal.
[Student interviews talking about the Carthage community and student life.]
Back in the hallway, Alice knows she must be close to out of whatever strange world or dream she is in. She walks to the final door, marked "A New Horizon," and moves to turn the handle, but the door is locked. she looks around, searching for a key, but does not find one. She hears a voice over head, which asks her a riddle. She waits, thinking, and answers it. The door swings open, and she passes through. It is a room, empty except for two chairs. Large windows face what Alice can only assume is Lake Michigan. In one of the chairs sits a man. He looks strangely familiar, and she inquires about his name. He does not respond, but instead asks her the same question. She replies that she is not sure, that she thinks she may have changed. He tells her the story about this land that she is in, and about the journey that she has gone through. He stands from his chair and escorts her to the door and tells her to continue on her next journey, that she will find the direction that she must take. Alice walks through the door once again, and feels a sensation of being pulled upwards, like being in a fast moving elevator.
[Student interviews discussing the feeling of graduating, prospects for the future and what “New Horizons” means to them.]
She opens her eyes to find herself sitting with her back against the Kissing Rock, her tote bag over her shoulder and her graduation check list in her hands. “Curiouser and curiouser,” she mumbles to herself. She stands, brushes off her jeans and puts her paper in the bag, then continues walking to her dorm.
