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| My Dorm at the University of Miami |
1) What was the hardest thing to leave behind when you went away to school for the first time? My horse. I missed him sooooo much!
2) We live in the era of helicopter parents. How much fuss did your parents make when you first left home? My parents drove me to college, helped me move in, went with me to the store to buy the bedding, even bought matching bedding for my roommates who had not gotten theirs yet, so we could have a coordinated room. Yeah, pretty much helicopter. :-)
3) Share a favorite memory of living with schoolmates, whether in a dorm or other shared housing. My first college roommate had never talked to a Jew or a black person in her life. Guess who she got for her two roommates? LOL! (She was the daughter of a very high-ranking Marine officer, and apparently there were not a lot of Jewish or black officers at that level, or at least her family did not socialize with them.) I can still remember her attempts to be -- well, comfortable. But she moved out after a couple of months. At that point, we felt sorry for her. She missed all the fun we had the rest of the year.
4) What absolute necessity of college life in your day would seem hilariously out-of-date now? Cassette player in my stereo. Heck, even the stereo!
5) What innovation of today do you wish had been part of your life in college? iPods! And iPhones!
Bonus question for those whose college days feel like a long time ago: Share a rule or regulation that will seem funny now. Did you really follow it then? My Freshman year, my parents insisted that I live on an all girls floor, instead of the co-ed ones. That meant that men were supposed to be off the floor by midnight. The reality was they were there 24/7, including the R.A.'s boyfriend. The next year, I was in a 100% co-ed dorm. So much for their plan. (As for whether I followed it, yes, but only because I was barely 17 and was a complete innocent that year. I was pretty terrified of what went on in some of those rooms, honestly!)
8 comments:
I started college that young, too, and was mortified at the thought boys might end up spending the night!
Nice to know I was not the only one, Martha! :-)
I had never met a Jew until I went to college, either, but I ate it up! I was thrilled to get to learn about her tradition from her, not just from a book! I hate that your roommate missed out on such an awesome experience.
Sandy, the best learning in college came from the people I got to know, not the books and classes. Sounds like you had the same experience! :-)
Do you still have a horse?
Great post--sorry your first year roomie missed out on what sounded like a great year!
Revkjarla, No horse right now, although hopefully again some day. And I do think she did miss out...we were not offended...just felt sorry for her. Hopefully in the years since then, she has expanded her world view :-)
I was also 17 when I started college, but that was a very, very long time ago.
I didn't know about Jews, Christians, or any other religion when I went to college.
an ipod in college would have been incredible!
sounds like you had an awesome college experience! your generosity about your roomie is beautiful. it would be easy to just be po'd about it but you and your other roomie responded with grace.
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