--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I graduated [from Yale], I went back…" description: "\"When I graduated [from Yale], I went back to Larry [Kramer]. But when I go to Yale reunions, there are still people who call me David.\" — Kevin Sessums" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kevin-sessums-9486_call-me_when-i-graduated-from-yale-i-went-back-t_1108157.jpg" --- # When I graduated \[from Yale\], I went back to Larry… ![“When I graduated [from Yale], I went back to Larry [Kramer]. But when I go to Yale reunions, there are still people who call me David.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kevin-sessums-9486_call-me_when-i-graduated-from-yale-i-went-back-t_1108157.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kevin-sessums-9486_call-me_when-i-graduated-from-yale-i-went-back-t_1108157.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kevin-sessums-9486_call-me_when-i-graduated-from-yale-i-went-back-t_1108157.jpg) > “When I graduated \[from Yale\], I went back to Larry \[Kramer\]. But when I go to Yale reunions, there are still people who call me David.” [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even after leaving Yale, some still see him as a student, showing how past identities linger. **In simple terms:** People still call him “David” after graduation. Key Takeaway Accept that past labels may persist. Themes identity memory social perception Mood reflective nostalgic Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - reunion events - networking - personal branding Key Concepts self‑concept legacy Questions to Reflect On - How do you reshape others’ views? - What parts of your past define you? A Different Perspective Changing perception can be difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kramer/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reunion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reunion/) [Reunions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reunions/) ## Related quotes > [ We didn't know each other \[with Larry Kramer at Yale\], but we had a lot of mutual friends. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/we-didn-t-know-each-other-with-larry-kramer-at-yale-but-we-had-a-lot/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [This is like one of my family reunions. Except most of these people are wearing shoes. Sam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/icarly/this-is-like-one-of-my-family-reunions-except-most-of-these-people/) ICarly > [ \[Larry Kramer\] thinks Charles de Gaulle was gay. He thinks Max Schmeling was gay. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/larry-kramer-thinks-charles-de-gaulle-was-gay-he-thinks-max-schmeling/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I was so unhappy as a child in Washington I figured if I'm going to Yale, I am going to start a new life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-was-so-unhappy-as-a-child-in-washington-i-figured-if-i-m-going-to/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ Those people are seen, I assume, by Larry \[Kramer\] as writing partly about gay issues and problems, whether it's on the surface or not,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/those-people-are-seen-i-assume-by-larry-kramer-as-writing-partly/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ I talked to \[Larry\] Kramer a little bit about it while I was writing 'Remembering Denny' . Denny was one of those people who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-talked-to-larry-kramer-a-little-bit-about-it-while-i-was-writing/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ I could appear in this million-word book \[Larry Kramer\] are working on. Nobody would even notice me. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-could-appear-in-this-million-word-book-larry-kramer-are-working-on/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ \[Larry Kramer\] even wrote this angry letter to the president of Yale, and in it he said what he said to us, that he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/larry-kramer-even-wrote-this-angry-letter-to-the-president-of-yale/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ Tony Kushner has said that Larry \[Kramer\] thinks everyone always has to agree with him. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/tony-kushner-has-said-that-larry-kramer-thinks-everyone-always-has-to/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ There was a Yale even before Larry \[Kramer\] and I got there, and there were three designations of students: "white shoe," "brown shoe," and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/there-was-a-yale-even-before-larry-kramer-and-i-got-there-and-there/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ Everyone disappoints \[Larry Kramer\]. So it's not a problem for him either way. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/everyone-disappoints-larry-kramer-so-it-s-not-a-problem-for-him/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ Larry \[Kramer\] had already experienced so much loss by then from the AIDS epidemic. But I don't think it changed anything between us. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/larry-kramer-had-already-experienced-so-much-loss-by-then-from-the/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I wrote an essay too, and mine started something like, "When I was asked to contribute to this book, I said, 'I could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-wrote-an-essay-too-and-mine-started-something-like-when-i-was-asked/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ I believe we really became friends \[with Larry Kramer\] when we bonded at our fifteenth class reunion in 1972. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-believe-we-really-became-friends-with-larry-kramer-when-we-bonded/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ Larry \[Kramer\] and I often disagree. There was the whole meshuggaas we went through about his donating his papers to Yale, and I disagreed… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/larry-kramer-and-i-often-disagree-there-was-the-whole-meshuggaas-we/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) ## More by Kevin Sessums > [ \[Calvin Trilllin\] is not writing about things that I can criticize. I can call these other people out for what I think they are… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/calvin-trilllin-is-not-writing-about-things-that-i-can-criticize-i/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I get rejections from the New Yorker. When I had to give a little talk to the people graduating from the MBA program at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-get-rejections-from-the-new-yorker-when-i-had-to-give-a-little-talk/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ \[Larry Kramer\] thinks Charles de Gaulle was gay. He thinks Max Schmeling was gay. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/larry-kramer-thinks-charles-de-gaulle-was-gay-he-thinks-max-schmeling/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I was raped. That was a hard thing to write about. I never owned that part of it. Guys don't look at themselves as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-was-raped-that-was-a-hard-thing-to-write-about-i-never-owned-that/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ Sometimes if I am walking down the street and thinking about my panoply of God, Ganesha, Parvati \[Ganesha's mother\], I say "Lucifer," because he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/sometimes-if-i-am-walking-down-the-street-and-thinking-about-my/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [To some people, knowledge and science are everything. To me, God is everything I don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/to-some-people-knowledge-and-science-are-everything-to-me-god-is/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I was not "shoe." That's a misuse of the term "shoe," which is derived from "white shoe."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-was-not-shoe-that-s-a-misuse-of-the-term-shoe-which-is-derived-from/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [My father always wanted me to be president of the United States, and his fallback position was that I not become a ward of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/my-father-always-wanted-me-to-be-president-of-the-united-states-and/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I just so desperately wanted to be published in New Yorker, and I'd so desperately try to get something in it. But I'd always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-just-so-desperately-wanted-to-be-published-in-new-yorker-and-i-d-so/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ We didn't know each other \[with Larry Kramer at Yale\], but we had a lot of mutual friends. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/we-didn-t-know-each-other-with-larry-kramer-at-yale-but-we-had-a-lot/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ David Remnick \[the New Yorker's editor in chief\]is about as interested in anything gay as I am interested in anything to do with baseball.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/david-remnick-the-new-yorker-s-editor-in-chief-is-about-as-interested/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ I believe we really became friends \[with Larry Kramer\] when we bonded at our fifteenth class reunion in 1972. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-believe-we-really-became-friends-with-larry-kramer-when-we-bonded/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [ One of the few nice things about \[time in Yale\] was you got to know people before there were labels on them, so you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/one-of-the-few-nice-things-about-time-in-yale-was-you-got-to-know/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [I wrote an essay too, and mine started something like, "When I was asked to contribute to this book, I said, 'I could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/i-wrote-an-essay-too-and-mine-started-something-like-when-i-was-asked/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) > [When one person mentors, two lives are changed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sessums/when-one-person-mentors-two-lives-are-changed/) [Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) [Explore all 72 Kevin Sessums quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sessums/) ## More Call me quotes > [I just read an article about how young American males feel uncomfortable appearing naked in front of each other in locker rooms. 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