MY FRESHMAN YEAR chapter 63

My freshman year was a tad different than most freshmen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  `I already knew most of the upperclassmen. I felt at home immediately. That is, as much at home as one can feel in a used lumber built dorm.

I decided to get involved in more than academics. I volunteered to work on the yearbook and loved the opportunity to work on the layout with Eric. The entire crew was so much fun. We got work done, but laughter prevailed. Garth was becoming a very good friend. He was another local boy and I began to get many invites to his home for those great home cooked meals. Marg was the editor who at times had to get control of the laughter with her whip to get us back on track. She was a terrific leader and she could spell. That has always been a problem for me and it even shows up in this blog. Sorry!

One of the things we wanted was to deviate from the small selection of standard covers. We wanted something personal. So we selected a cover with a bid more printing space for the name to include a small graphic. The guidelines for how graphics could be done were restrictive and both Eric and I chafed under the rules. We wanted more freedom, but did the best we could with what was allowed. There seemed to always be a page each year jammed with candid shoots, but only one. This is ours.

Student council is elected each fall, except for the freshmen officers. I even wondered this at the time, why are all class presidents guys and all vice presidents girls? Maybe it is still the same. I was elected president, most likely because more upper classmen knew me. Betty (a married student) became vice president. From what I understand it was the first time both class officers were Americans. Not only did Betty and I work together, she and her husband lived in the room directly below Don and I. We could hear just about everything. Betty was a giggler. One of the most smiling and genuinely happy people I have known. We could hear her laughing often. We could hear some of their little quarrels and we could hear other things. If I came into the room and Don was giggling, it was usually because our downstairs neighbors were doing other things.

Don and I had a great deal of fun. Appliances were forbidden in the dorm rooms and we often wanted a late night snack. Of course we had the over the counter snacks everyone had, but we really wanted to cook. It took some creativity, but we learned to fry an egg on the bottom of an iron. First, wedge the handle between the bed frame and a board. Set the iron on its highest setting, and then place a thin aluminum pie pan on the bottom of the iron. Finally crack an egg in the pan and twenty minutes later you could have a fried egg sandwich. I know it took a long time, but we were trying to learn patience. This helped.

After becoming an elected officer I had the opportunity to work with the already appointed activities committee. They were looking for a barn in which to hold a Halloween party, Doug was the man. I got hold of him and he took me to check out a few options. We found one not being used and the farmer agreed to make it available. All we had to do was clean the garbage out, scrape out the do-do, and find a way to light it. Doug helped out there as well. He found a generator and set it up. I told you he was an electrical genius.

Before the cleaning and the Halloween party came about, I had had many talks with the Tuck Shop girl. I knew she did not want the relationship she was trying to escape. Milk was something that we had to buy extra at meals and he would send he one to her quite often. She would send them back and he continued to persist. At one point he felt like if she just went out with someone else she might see that he was the one for her. I volunteered for the assignment. However, I did tell him that if she showed any interest, I planned to pursue the relationship. She and I were talking together quite often by this time. Since she was the junior class vice president we both served on Student Council. As it turned out, we were both helping with the social committee. So I asked her to the Halloween party as our first official date.