Meliora Monday

When we were both grad students at the U of R, my girlfriend Marg asked me what "meliora," the University motto, meant.

I responded, "It's Latin for mediocrity."

My extensive knowledge of Latin could, both then and now, be boiled down to a) the few Latin roots that I knew which formed commonly used words in English and b) the English translation of the tune "Dona Nobis Pacem" that we sang ad nauseam (ah, see what I did there?) during choir practice under the tutelage of the famed Harold McAuliffe. Give us peace.

I am now pleased to inform myself (because you probably already knew) that meliora, in fact, means "Always better." Hmmm, how much more fitting, inspirational and beautifully poetic. I learned this not through an active Google search but rather from the online viewing of a collection of beautiful photos of the University of Rochester entitled, Photo Friday, which contains a Meliora photo.

Although it's not as visually stunning as some of the others, my favorite is the image captured below that was taken by Jessica Stoll (a PhD candidate in Political Science). It reminds me of walking through that same cavernous hallway with my mom when I was younger and taking dance classes at the university. Every week, those walls would have a fresh coat of paint and graffiti and, as a kid, I thought it was just a little bit scary.

It also reminds me of the first time I discovered that same dungenous, rank passageway as a grad student and immediately flashed back to an aspect of my childhood that I had all but forgotten. Never in a million years could I have envisioned the day, possibly 20 years later, when I would be back on campus as an MBA student. Wow. From expressive, modern dance movements to game theory. 

Certainly different but . . . always better?