As graduation approaches, Albion’s seniors are packing more than boxes – they’re packing memories. In this series of photos, members of the class of 2025 reflect on the things they’re taking with them into the future – and the pieces of their college lives they’re choosing to leave behind.
Drew Renner: Hello Sunflower Seeds, Goodbye Baseball
Brighton senior Drew Renner isn’t packing many physical objects as he prepares to graduate, but what he is taking, he said, holds a lot of weight.
“A lot of the items that I’m bringing are intangible,” Renner said. “A lot of it is gonna be the experiences, the memories that I’ve developed over the last four years here, starting all the way from Wesley into this year, where we’re wrapping up our baseball season here.”
The tangible items Renner’s taking with him include sunflower seeds.
“Sunflower seeds are one of those things where if you have seeds, everyone’s coming to you,” Renner said. “Whenever I see them, I’ll always reflect on my baseball days.”
The thing Renner’s leaving behind? Baseball.
“I’ll definitely keep up staying in athletics, but I always said once I’m done, I’m done, I’m never picking up a baseball again,” Renner said.
Renner added one of the most important concepts he’s leaving behind is a fear of failure.
“Leaving here, failure is just one role that I found didn’t work correctly,” Renner said. “I think there’s that idea of doing everything perfectly correct the first time, but it’s not realistic anymore.”
Miranda McKee: Hello Water Bottle, Goodbye Choir Binder
Troy senior Miranda McKee is keeping the water bottle that’s been with her since junior year of high school – and leaving behind the choir president’s binder.
“It’s kind of cheesy, but it’s gotten me through a lot,” McKee said of the water bottle. “It’s been with me through pretty much everything.”
The binder, which is passed down to each new choir president, is “obviously being left behind for future presidents so that they can run the choir in a helpful and meaningful way,” McKee said.
“I think the binder definitely signifies my growth and leadership,” McKee said. “As a (first-year), I was very quiet and didn’t really ever say a lot, and I didn’t think I would ever be president of choir, but here we are.”
As for the water bottle?
“It probably has way too many stories to tell,” McKee said. “One of my best golf tournaments that I had, I had my water bottle with me.”
Now, heading toward graduation, McKee said she’s also leaving behind something less tangible – a fear of the world.
“Coming into college, I was like, ‘oh my god, once I graduate, I’m gonna start freaking out,’” McKee said. “Now we’re here, and I think it’s okay, I’ll be alright, I’ll make it through.”
Joy Babatunde: Hello Notebooks, Goodbye Mailbox Key
Chicago senior Joy Babatunde is bringing her kinesiology notebooks and a deck of cards, two items she said remind her of the “great connections” she’s made, academically and socially.
“I’ve kept my notebooks over the years because of my major, and I knew that I will need them,” Babatunde said. “They’ve actually stuck with me, definitely all throughout.”
The deck of cards, she said, carries a different kind of significance, one rooted in friendship.
“It’s something that my friends and I bonded with a lot over here, and it’s definitely something I will still be using afterwards,” Babatunde said.
As for what she’s leaving behind? Her mailbox key.
“It was the only key that I never really added with the other keys,” Babatunde said. “I think it was to not misplace it, and knowing that if I do, I will have to pay a big fine.”
But beyond the physical, Babatunde said she’s also parting with something deeper, a fear.
“Going to a new environment, you don’t see the same people you see every day, so there’s a fear of not losing self, still knowing who I am afterwards and continuing the journey,” Babatunde said.
Damion Gehres: Hello to Being a ‘Giant People Can Stand on,’ Goodbye Cow Costume
Elsie senior Damion Gehres, who has been a member of Albion College’s wind and percussion ensemble and Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) throughout his time on campus, said one of the things he’s taking with him is the goal of being “the giant people can stand on.”
“My high school band experience sucked. I did not plan on actually doing this once I got here,” Gehres said. “But then I was like ‘screw it, I’m gonna do it for a year, see if I like it.”
Four years later, he’s at the center of a notecard tradition – a system in which members of the ensemble write positive notes to each other. Gehres said the tradition started when a graduating senior suggested they “do something nice for the (first-years).”
“I have mine from the past because one of my friends gave me one that was literally two full notecards,” Gehres said.
After performing his first solo on April 11, Gehres is preparing to leave behind his role in the ensemble.
“This could potentially be the last percussion thing,” Gehres said. “It just feels nice actually having people believe in it.”
As for the tangible item he’s leaving behind? A cow costume.
“I didn’t have anything to fit one of my fraternity parties, so I’m like ‘screw it, I’m gonna wear it throughout the entire party,’’ Gehres said. “People loved it. It was a funny idea, and I think it would be a good idea to keep it as the mascot of the house.”
Em Schiffer: Hello Tigger Plushie, Goodbye Club Leadership
Em Schiffer, West Bloomfield senior, said she’s taking with her a collection of Tigger plushies – a personal symbol of energy and a reminder to embrace playfulness.
“He’s pretty much a description of ADHD,” Schiffer said, adding that it’s something they’ve dealt with not as a challenge but, “as just, a human.”
What Schiffer is leaving behind is their role as president of Hillel, Albion College’s Jewish student organization. They said they’re passing it on in hopes that the space will continue to “serve as a safe place for Jews to be on campus.”
“We don’t have the biggest Jewish presence on campus, so I want to make sure the few students who are Jewish have a way to express themselves,” Schiffer said.
Stepping into leadership through Hillel – a role they hadn’t held before college – played a major role in her growth, they said.
“It taught me a lot about responsibility and just how to run things, it taught me a lot about leadership,” Schiffer said.
While the Tigger plushie will serve as a reminder to “shake it out a little and just keep bouncing,” Schiffer said they’re still leaving behind a more naive version of themself.
“It’s not that I’m not trusting anymore, but I think I’m leaving behind the innocence,” Schiffer said. “I’m leaving this college as a graduate, ready to go to grad school and then join the workforce.”
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