Thursday, January 25, 2007

Nearing the End 61-80

Thanks for the affirmation that I should complete what I started!

61. Mom and Dad took me to college in Oklahoma. It was the first time I'd been alone with them since I was 11 1/2 months old!

62. I loved dorm life from the first moment. I said good-bye to them that Sunday afternoon, then realized I should probably walk with them to the car - after all, they were leaving their firstborn behind. I realized that when my mom began crying.

63. I didn't get homesick until my birthday, when I finally turned 18.

64. I soon became known as "Mouth of Third South." I loved to go around to all the rooms and socialize as everyone was getting ready for bed - putting curlers in their hair, etc. Then I'd get back to my room and everything would be dark as I had to get ready for bed in the bathroom while my roommate and "bathmates" were already asleep!

65. I had some horrid jobs getting through college - I will post about them soon.

66. My first serious boyfriend was my freshman year - he was 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 125 pounds! Oh, yeah. (And I DID gain the freshman 15).

67. I broke up with him when I found out he went back to the dorm to goof off when I went back to study - I assumed he was doing the same. He ended up being drafted, and I have always wondered what happened to him.

68. Alot of my guy friends (including the above mentioned young man) declared religion as their major to stay out of Viet Nam. Unfortunately, if they flunked out (which he did), that free pass was taken away and they were eligible for the draft.

69. Every guy was talking about "his number" in those days - if you don't know what that means, you're young. (It's where they fell in the draft lottery).

70. My freshman antics came back to haunt me when I became RA (resident assistant) of Third South in my junior year.

71. The year before that I was RA in a dorm which had been condemned - it had been a boys' dorm which was re-opened when a glut of applications came in and they had to find room for an unusually large number of freshman girls - another whole post to come!

72. My future sister-in-law was one of the freshmen on my floor that year.

73. I thought I was going to have money when I became a teacher, so I fell for a waterless cookware sales pitch and signed up.

74. My roommate and I both made this mistake, and her father helped us out of it - that was when I learned the "three-day regret" law - thank goodness!

75. One of my favorite elementary education classes was "Children's Literature." We had to read 50 kids' books for an A. I read 82 - classics, Newberry winners, Caldecott winners - it was great fun.

76. My student teaching experience was a disaster. It might be why I only taught for 1.5 years.

77. When you graduate from a Christian college without a husband or a fiance, you start to panic! I thought God had made a colossal mistake.

78. Did you ever watch National Geographic Explorer? Several years ago, the host was named Boyd Matson. He was Butch Matson when we went to the same college at the same time - I had a crush on him, but he didn't know I existed.

79. I got a teaching job in southeast Kansas, as did my senior year roommate. We moved there together with our new cars - my 1969 Mustang and her 1969 Ford LTD. I taught 4th grade. She taught high school English. We thought we were set.

80. It turned out to be a very difficult year - lots of work, very little money. We rented the upstairs apartment of an old house for $60.00 a month! She went back to western Kansas the next year and left me there alone and very lonely.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am laughing as I type this. I fell for the waterless cookware stuff too. I think he found my name when I announced my engagement in the paper.
I ended up buying that as well as dishes and silverware. I paid $25 a month for a long time sigh....
Of course I know what the draft number is about. I was quite pregnant in 1968 and my husband had just moved to a different deferrment because of his job. Then they changed it yet again. (No he never had to leave, but we were very scared)
You're almost finished and doing great!!
hugs!

Anonymous said...

I LOVED Boyd Matson on National Geographic Explorer! Seriously. He was my favorite host on that show. I was a faithful viewer for years. Of course now NG has it's own network on cable and we don't get the National Geographic network. :-(

Loved your 20 this time, and looking forward to the last 20, Dawn.

Now to see if Demon Blogger will let me publish this....

Anonymous said...

I BOUGHT those waterless pots. WAY TOO expensive. I am an easy sell.

number 77 made me LOL!

thanks for your thoughts about my post. i wasn't upset about my mom's comment. I know she was sort of kidding. I know she is happy, but she is a realist and she knows I have a tough road ahead of me with my health and another pregnancy. Moms worry. I know that now. And given my health - she does have reason to worry.

Lala's world said...

i totally lol on #77....Bridal college failed you eh?! hehe I love this cuz it is like reading a short book version of your life! so well written and such an interesting life!

Girl Raised in the South said...

I still remember every Saturday night putting pink sponge curlers in my hair, or orange juice cans (even worse). You just learned to sleep on them. When they made hot curlers I thought it was the greatest invention ever!

Anonymous said...

Brings back my college years! Yup, teachers weren't paid a lot. When my father died in 1961, Mother was bringing home $255 a month from teaching. And she was degreed...many weren't back then.

I don't remember Sharon Wyatt. I was gone by then to college and away. I dated Johnny Snow in the late '50's, and he was the Nazarene preacher's son.

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine being an RA. Honestly, Mesa State had a requirement that non-resident students had to live on campus for two years. We couldn't wait to get our girls out of those dorms and into apartments. What a rowdy place!

My goodness, you're almost finished with your 100 things. This has been great. I forgot to mention that I went to 18 different schools before I graduated from high school. My family moved around like yours did.

Carole Burant said...

So enjoying this, Dawn...learning so many new things about you:-) I had to giggle at your waterless cookware part...I got caught the same way with encyclopedias! Ugh! Looking forward to your next 20:-) Hugs xox

kpjara said...

Once again...wonderful post. Lots to draw from.

I can't wait to read about the continuations of the RA experience with the flood of freshmen girls and the job of teaching and jobs and all of it!