School Starts

We live in a college town and the students are starting to come back. The area near the university is congested with cars. The hundreds of for rent signs have dwindled to a few. The local buzz revolves around the coming football season. Students on bikes, backpacks bulging are crowding the bike lanes and making driving a precarious endeavor.

All this activity takes me back to my first days of college. I can see myself as if were yesterday. There I was wearing stripped bell bottoms and a leotard. I was a Drama Major and leotards were standard attire. Standing in the hot Arizona, August sun I clutched my schedule book with its carefully marked chosen classes.

Today enrolling in classes is done by punching a few computer keys and plugging in daddy's credit card. In a matter of minutes your schedule is complete and paid for. Then you can hang out with friends in the student lounge or at a local pub. Back then you had to stand in line to sign up for each class. If it were a popular class they might run out of space before you got to the front. Then you had to stand in line for your second choice. Enrolling was an all day affair.

My first semester of college cost me about $100.00. You read that right, not $1000.00 but one hundred smackoroos! I had a grant from the Arizona Board of Regents. They were trying to encourage enrollment by locals. Every student that graduated from an Arizona high school in the top third of the class was given enough money to pay for tuition and extra for books. What a gonga!

Now I am living much like I did in those early college days. I work in a restaurant to make a living. My apartment is in a large complex catering to college students.
There motto is where the cats rest their paws. I am still a cat, not a Wild Cat but a Bob cat. The apartment is furnished with castoffs. Read here about furnishing my new home.

That young fresh faced girl stood in line excited about her future, pleased with her choice to be a teacher. She had no idea what twist and turns her life would take, but she was looking forward to the ride. She still is.