Getting a letter from my soon-to-be-roomie, Alison Newby, in the middle of August made the prospect of moving on campus that much more real - she sent an awesome letter and an adorable photo of her and her prom date from their Sr-Jr prom. Moving in was exciting as I had never lived away from home until that moment.
The dorm, Hill House, was, in retrospect, a hot mess - and I do mean hot. Alison had the foresight to pack a large fan but that did little to make this less hot - just more dusty! We were on the 2nd floor, room 216 and our two twin beds were arranged on either side of the double sided desk. I have no recollection of actually studying at that desk, but I'm sure I must have.
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Orientation took place in the beginning of September and while I have the list of activities, all I seemed to have saved was a tongue depressor from Dr. Knowles presentation. I went to look him up in the yearbook but alas, we didn't include a photo of him. As part of the yearbook team that first year, looking back I wish we had labelled more of the photos and dated them - a lot of those memories run together in that first year. I am glad we put everyone's name, home address and birthday in the back of that first Odyssey.
Evidently, here is what we did for Orientation, other than a presentation from Dr. Knowles - I don't recall what we did when we were sick other than cut class:)
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I was lucky in that I already knew several classmates - Sarah Krigman was a good friend of mine from Durham Academy since 3rd grade and we quickly became friends with our roommates and theirs. I believe that's how I become friends with Amy (Chis) Gilbert. For some reason, we formed a little group we named the Digressants - ha, what could we have possibly been digressing from - unless it was a riff on something Dr. Clarke had said in a class.
There is no way that our group of bright eyed and bushy tailed 14 - 15 - 16 year-olds would have noticed or understood the angst and efforts of the adults trying to get all this stuff together in time for the school to operate as hoped. All we knew was that this was FUN - being away from home, living in a dorm, exploring the campus, breaking rules, meeting other bright but slightly nerdy kids who were, for once, just like us! And all in the same boat at the same time.
Sidenote: Looking back, I would not wish to have been one of those adults:) I still don't envy anyone who was or is willing to be an RA! I had a 15 year old once, no thanks to several hundred of them. I'm so grateful she is in her 20s now.
But I recall how quickly friendships coalesced, how even though friend groups or even cliques were formed, no one was really left on the outside of anything - we were all in this experiment together and there seemed to be someone for everyone. I am still amazed at how many couples then are still couples now - and that some of your kids got to go to NCSSM as well.
That's the thing I remember the most about those first few chaotic weeks - the sense our class was in this event together and that everyone was a friend as we experienced something new to all of us, at the same time. Old rules did not apply, everyone - students, faculty, staff - we were all making up the rules and processes as we went along and we were at the same step at the same time and we were loving every minute of this new adventure!
[Durham Morning Herald - September 13, 1980]
Great post Grace. I totally agree with your concluding remarks. Although, we had some friends that were closer than others; we (all of us) were in it together. I didn't feel like anyone was excluded (unless they kept to themselves).
ReplyDeleteThe name "The Digressants" totally sounds like it was taken from a teacher's favorite phrase. I remember learning the word "Facetious" from Rufus Owens. I think he even defined it for us.
I enlarged a few of your pictures, partly so I could read the schedule, and see the faces, a little better.
I am drawing a complete blank on the Library Tour, the "New Games" with Paige Pratt, and the "Storytime" with Rena Lendstrom. Do you remember any of those?
I think it is kind of hilarious that "Curfew" is listed so prominently on each days schedule.
I had forgotten that the names and addresses of each student were listed in the back of the year book. (They have not been included in the digital copy online.) I think this may be the only place where everyone's hometown is listed. It's such significant information, that I created a spreadsheet for future reference.
Who is "Marshall"? (I can't tell from the polaroid) And who was Dr. Knowles? I don't remember him.