As promised...

The first night of college was nothing if not exciting! There was a hurricane warning so they advised students to go into the basement of whatever building you were in. I was in the College Center, having just finished eating dinner with a dorm neighbor, Sue L. (first names and initials only, to protect the innocent and not-s0!). The basement was crowded and there was really no room for us, so John P. (I remember a big football type body and white, white teeth!) suggested we sit on the floor under the pool table. And we did.

Now, at 45, almost 46, it's incomprehensible to me that I actually sat under a pool table with a stranger, and talked animatedly with a guy holding a cue stick who, every few minutes or so, stuck his head down to see if Sue and I were still okay! We stayed there about 45 minutes to an hour, then people started leaving, so we did as well. Back to the dorms (Carpenter Hall, on the Wesley College campus in Dover, Delaware), to get ready for bed and the beginning of my college career.

The Freshman Honors Program at the University of Delaware was only a couple of years old at the time; we might even have been the second class or so. (It's a long, long time ago, and I can't still remember... an awkward reference to a popular song...) The Program was housed on the Wesley College campus, although we were University of Delaware students. Wesley College, at the time, was known for its nursing program and its football team, not necessarily in that order! Imagine a class of 130 or so geeks, on their own for the first time in their short lives, on a campus surrounded by macho football players... It's a story waiting to happen.

And stories did - happen, that is. Here are a few highlights (lowlights?):

1. At least one attempted suicide (that I know of)
2. More drinking and drugging (not me, ever) than I've ever thought about, let alone witnessed
3. Parties, with and without microdots, costumes, and beer
4. Four days of class, and one "free day," Friday, for visits to main campus in Newark, DE, via the FHP shuttle
5. Although not my first experience with cutting classes, my first experience with not being scared to do it - after all, I was "in college," an adult, responsible for myself (not really, check out my grades that first year!)
6. Chris
7. Chris, and
8. Chris.

Can you tell that Chris was an important part of my freshman year? And guess what?! He's still an important part of my life, even now, 28 years later!!!

But enough for now - he warrants his own entry... more later...

More about me...

It was a big decision, to leave high school and go to college at 16-1/2 years of age, and I was a young 16-1/2. My parents were very old-fashioned and protective, and although I never had a problem with that (even then), I can truly appreciate the wonderful upbringing I had and I'll be forever grateful to them.

I took the PSATs and the SATs on schedule, and after my SAT scores arrived (don't even ask me now wha they were, but they were good), the college brochures started to arrive. I can clearly remember receiving flyers from Case Western Reserve University, Lehigh Valley University, Washington University,...

I had never even considered the University of Delaware but one day I had a meeting with my high school guidance counselor, Mrs. Betty Zoehller. One of the routine questions was, "Have you heard from any colleges? Which ones?" So I started reciting the list. I sort of threw the UD Freshman Honors Program in there, in conversation. It wasn't something I ever would have considered, but Mrs. Z. jumped on it! "The UD FHP doesn't ask just anyone to be in that program! You have to respond to that!"

So I did. I was asked to come down for and interview, and so we went, Mom, Dad and me. I interviewed with Stephen Skopik, the biology professor. I remember him asking me what made me think I was good enough for the University of Delaware, and I remember replying, "I don't know that I am, but I'm here to see if the University of Delaware is good enough for me! They're the ones who sent me the brochure!" I can remember trembling as I said it; even then that was pretty aggressive for me! I could just feel my mom grimacing behind me... Dr. S. just chuckled and went on with the interview. We toured the campus - I remember seeing Hullihen Hall, Memorial Hall, the Morris Library, the Green. We have a great picture of Dad in his shorts and a white T-shirt, standing on the steps of Hullihen Hall with his hands up in the air like he was being arrested - there was a security guard behind him locking the doors!

I joined the FHP and became a FHP!

I started keeping a diary on August 16, 1977 - two weeks before FHP, the day Elvis Presley died. I can remember it like it was yesterday.

The next time I make an entry, I'll tell you about my first night on the Wesley College campus...