Twenty two years and half my life ago. That’s how long it’s been since I continued my academic journey at Slippery Rock University. The Slippery Rock season gets lost in the shuffle sometimes because my Hiram G. Andrews Center season carries a lot more weight.
I had just graduated from the community college in May with my Associates and was on to the next chapter in my life. Out of all the brochures I looked at on Transfer Day that prior October, the Rock was the school that was calling my name. IUP and Edinboro were my second and third choices.
That Friday morning (August 22), a team of volunteers helped me with the stuff I was bringing into my dorm room, making for a stress-free move in. We stopped off in Grove City for lunch and some time at the Outlets before I said my goodbyes. There were some tears, but they were short-lived. I had my first dinner that night in Weisenfluh, made some new friends, and met a few more in one of the off-campus residence halls. The first night is in the books. A new era is set to begin.
My first semester would be quite an adjustment from what I was used to. I had to get my running shoes on to get to some of my classes. To be fair though, I did have to commute from the Hiram G. Andrews Center to Richland or Downtown plenty of times. It wasn’t bad to walk the campus on sunny days. On days with rain, snow, or freezing rain, it was a much different story.
It was a new adventure on a campus much bigger than I had been used to. It was expected to have growing pains as I let HGA and Johnstown go and begin to embrace Slippery Rock. I crushed on a girl and when she turned me down, let me with a broken heart. To be fair, she had three years on campus while I was just getting established. I dealt with the pain and moved on, realizing that rejection is just a part of life.
We had fun on Saturday morning as we were introduced to the campus and university life. Under the stars, we enjoyed Bruce Almighty and some good tunes. Looking back, Pirates of the Caribbean might have been a better choice. When I think about it, Bruce Almighty was my introduction to Michael Scott.
The real test would come Monday morning. Some of my classes would chew me up and spit me out.
I was introduced to a great book in my management class. The subject was on change. The book was titled, “Who Moved My Cheese”. This fall, I plan to revisit that book and reread it the week that I am off.
In October, I attended a retreat at Camp Sequanota, a place that’s near and dear to my cousins as they spent many summers there. I tried to deal with my mental health issues the best I could during that first semester. When it was all said and done, my final grade point average for the Fall 2003 semester was a 2.6. It was far from where I wanted to be, but I survived nonetheless.
Clearly, I had some work to do.
Stylish 🍒 