One Dorm Room. Two Generations. A Babson Summer.

Eric Pallay ’00 hadn’t expected a college dorm to stop him in his tracks.

Pallay was busy doing what dozens of other parents were doing that humid Sunday in mid-July—hauling bedding, backpacks, and other supplies into a Babson College residence hall as more than 120 high school students descended on the College’s Wellesley campus for the Arthur M. Blank School Summer Program for High School Students.

His 18-year-old son, Spencer, had signed up for the weeklong program, eager to experience Babson’s top-rated entrepreneurship and sports management courses while getting a taste of college life, complete with World Cup watch parties and excursions to Fenway Park and Faneuil Hall.

But as Pallay stepped into Forest Hall, what had started as a small trickle of recognition gave way to a flood of memories as he realized his son would be sleeping in the same residence hall where he spent his first year at Babson in 1995.

“It was this weird wave of emotion,” Pallay said. “It’s bizarre, because I don’t have a ton of memories from when I was a kid, but I remember checking in that first day so clearly.”

Pallay was the eldest in his family, and therefore the first of his siblings to leave home for college.

“I remember driving up with my parents, being nervous,” he said. “I remember my mom getting a bit emotional. I hadn’t thought about it in years.”

Suddenly, the campus looked different. Walking past Horn Library and other familiar buildings, Pallay wasn’t just helping his son unpack. He was retracing his first steps at Babson, and preparing for the departure of his own children.

“It hit all at once,” he said. While Spencer begins his senior year of high school in New York this fall, Pallay’s first born will leave home to start college at Lehigh University in September. “I remembered what I went through, knowing I’m about to go through it with my oldest son, and then realizing it’s not that far off with Spencer either.”

Creating Opportunities

For the next week, Spencer joined classmates from across the country pitching ideas, attending hands-on classes, and discovering college life. Pallay hopes his son leaves with more than memories.

“Somewhere in my mind, I’m hoping he falls in love with Babson like I did,” Pallay said. “It was a great choice for me.”

Pallay credits Babson not only with preparing him professionally, but with surrounding him with classmates and professors whose real-world experience shaped his career. More than 25 years later, he says the Babson network remains one of the strongest professional communities he’s ever known.

“Babson punches well above its weight,” he said. “The way alumni stand up for each other and create opportunities is phenomenal.”

And as Spencer unpacked his bags in the same residence hall where his father began his own Babson journey, the moment became a potent reminder that some experiences—moving into a dorm, saying goodbye, and taking that first step toward independence—never lose their power.

Learn more about the Arthur M. Blank School Summer Program for High School Students.