Eva Bockoff ‘25 on What It Means to Be Human

Feb 5 2025

Eva Bockoff ‘25 is a day student from Newburyport, Massachusetts.

The Govs community gathers every Wednesday in the Moseley Chapel for quiet reflection and a Chapel Talk by a community member about something important to them. Senior Eva Bockoff '25 recently shared her love of family, friends, the Govs community, and the beauty (and humor) in everyday interactions with her fellow humans.

Please enjoy her recent Chapel Talk, or you can listen to Eva's talk here.

I love my family.

My mom is my best friend and my inspiration to pursue a meaningful life. Despite growing up in a home that was neither loving nor nurturing, she built herself up entirely on her own into a beautifully resilient, independent, and empathetic woman. She is someone that I am blessed to have in my corner.

My dad was a phenomenal human being. He was incredibly kind, generous, intelligent, and had an amazing sense of humor. Although I am sad that he is not here today, I still feel privileged to have known someone as special as him.

My sister, Laura, is a force to be reckoned with. She loves fiercely and wholeheartedly. She challenges me to look inside myself and embrace both my flaws and my strengths. I’m lucky to know that someone cares about me as deeply as Laura does.

I love my friends; their wit and honesty constantly remind me that life is a mixture of humor and heartache, and both are worth experiencing fully.

I feel fortunate to have had teachers who challenge me to do more than I think I can. I love the education my teachers at Govs have given me.

At Govs, we talk a lot about community. I think a big part of community has to do with love. I love the community that I have found here at Govs. My family, who I love, is a smaller community that I also hold very close to my heart.

But I also really love CVS.

I love talking about CVS. I love going to CVS. I love buying things at CVS. I love feeling my retinas nearly detach while walking into the fluorescent lighting of a CVS, and I love being continually gaslighted by the self-checkout machine. I love it all.

I love the manager in my local store. Despite the fact that I have never seen her performing any legitimate tasks, I like that I can always find her sipping a Coke in the makeup aisle. This woman has taught me that you don’t have to conform to the assumptions society places on you. I think that the expectation would be that this woman, especially as the manager, would be like, working. But in all my trips to CVS, I’ve really never seen her do anything. And I’m not trying to be critical of her; I’m sure she has important responsibilities that I just don’t know about. But the reason why I have so much respect for her is that, if nothing else, she is consistent. I know she will always be there to give me a strained smile and an inhospitable glare—and I look forward to it every time I walk through those sliding doors.

There’s also a specific cashier that really fascinates me. The thing I love most about her is that in nearly every interaction, she finds a way to communicate that she is aggrieved or disgruntled about something, and you should know that that thing could very well be you, the customer at CVS, trying to pay.

One time, a few weeks ago, when I asked her, “how are you?” she told me that she was annoyed with customers who were buying calendars for the year 2025, because if they just bought three calendars, they could actually get the fourth one free. And I didn’t really know how to respond to this, so I just said, “I’m sorry, I’m sure that’s really frustrating.” But in my head, I was immediately pulled into the story. Just that coupling of words, you can buy three calendars and get the fourth free, intrigued me– it made me want to know more. And it wasn’t really clear why exactly someone would need four calendars for the same year. Maybe they were gifts, or maybe people just needed a calendar in every room of the house? But either way, my interest had peaked.

I left that day sort of confused but ultimately hopeful because I felt like this was an important turning point in our relationship. She had felt comfortable enough to vent her frustrations to me but also comfortable enough to loop me in on a great deal. So I know it may sound weird, but I feel really grateful for the interactions I get to have with this woman because, from this fascinating exchange and many others, she has changed my perspective on so many things, like, for example, instead of asking myself, why would someone need four calendars (?) I now ask myself, why wouldn’t I buy four calendars?

So, for obvious reasons, the employees at CVS are great. But I want to note that my fellow CVS patrons are also immensely interesting in a multitude of ways.

Over the summer, whenever I came to CVS, I always saw the same older woman buying gift cards in large denominations. One day, when I walked into the store, two employees were speaking with her. They were telling her that she was being scammed and that “Paul,” from Toronto, probably wasn’t named “Paul” and probably wasn’t from Toronto. They told her that this “Paul” probably doesn’t have the best intentions and that she probably shouldn’t be sending “Paul” a 500-dollar gift card every week.

This story can be a cautionary tale; not everyone will have your best interests at heart. But it also proves that goodness still exists. These people saw something happening that they didn’t think was right, and they wanted to do something about it. In a weird way, this was a beautiful thing to witness. Also, I should add as a disclaimer that this woman is no longer allowed to buy any gift cards at CVS, which is probably for the best.

And last winter, when I was about to drive away from CVS, I saw an older man exit the building, fall backward on a patch of ice, and hit his head. Everyone, myself included, ran towards this guy to see if he was okay—he was okay, don’t worry. And although it was scary to watch this happen, it was heartwarming to see all of these people, who came out of practically nowhere, show genuine care for a stranger in a vulnerable moment. And I’m not saying that this situation is unique to the CVS parking lot, but it did remind me that, even on a cold, dark winter night, human decency and compassion can still be alive and well.

Find the people who will teach you the things that you didn’t know you needed to learn, because these are things that you probably do need to learn.

So I know that It may sound crazy, but I’m infatuated with the window into humanity that CVS provides. I know that I could come up here and talk about Govs as a community and tell you why I am grateful to be a part of it, but instead, I wanted to talk about CVS. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to shine a light on the communities that we don’t often give credit to. The people at my local CVS have made me smile, they’ve made me laugh, they’ve intrigued me with their various idiosyncrasies, but they’ve also compelled me to question the way we treat those around us, especially the people we don’t know.

When I walk into CVS, I never know what is going to happen, and I love it because even though I don’t know these people’s names, and I don’t really know that much about them, I still relate to them. These are people that I am constantly learning from. And yes, these people are a little bit strange at times, but I am, too. These are people that I want to surround myself with. These people have their own stories, and it is important to me that I not only listen to these stories but also seek them out.

So, what I’m saying is that, even if it seems unconventional, stop and look past yourself and your immediate surroundings. If you talk to people and observe what’s happening around you, you will learn more about what it means to be human, and that is a beautiful thing. Find the people who will teach you the things that you didn’t know you needed to learn, because these are things that you probably do need to learn.

Thank you.

Eva Bockoff '25

Listen to Eva's Chapel Talk