OFF TO COLLEGE - 1963 to 1965
I left for college in September of 1963. Before leaving, I remember making a few dresses (we had to wear dresses on campus then) so I would have some new things to wear at college. I also remember packing everything up and loading it into David Dahl's car and heading off to school, all by myself. David was the oldest son of a family friend. We had a nice time driving the 12 hours to Provo, Utah but, when we arrived, he just dropped me off at my dorm and left me to fend for myself alone.
I checked into my apartment in the Lucy Mack Smith Hall which was a part of the Heritage Halls living quarters. The dorm room had 3 bedrooms and a kitchen eating area. Outside was a common study and visiting area. My apartment was on the lower level of a three story building. I had 5 roommates, with two in each bedroom. Two roommates were sisters and two were best friends. They were from Salt Lake and Pocatella, Idaho and went home almost every weekend. Gratefully, my exact roommate, Bella, stayed in Provo, but she was not a freshman, so we didn't have a lot in common. As a group of roommates, we all chipped in money for the week and one person would cook dinner each night for a week. We had apartment checks every week and, too, often we failed them. This made my roommates angry at our senior resident so they plotted ways to get back at her. I remember one night, my roommates sneaking into her room, which was just upstairs from ours, and taking her underwear and hanging all around her apartment. I don't know how they got in but they did. We had a curfew and had to be in our dorms by 10 p.m. on weeknights and 12 midnight on weekends. There were a few night that some of us had to knock on the window of our apartment so our roommates could let us in the back door. That was the beauty of being on the lower level of the dorm.
I remember registering for my classes once I arrived. Registration took place in the large dirt floor area of the Smith Field House. There were tables set all around and we would line up at the table which held the cards for the class we wanted. We would pick up a card, if there was still room in the class, and then proceed to another table for another class. It was a frustrating time as often the classes you wanted were filled and you would have to make on the spot adjustments to what classes you could take that semester.
College proved to be a fun time but one with almost too much freedom. I got caught up in dating and having fun. I often did not go to class or nor did I study very hard, especially my second semester, so my grades suffered tremendously. I took an incomplete in a shorthand class that I hated and got a real low grade in a philosophy class that required us to read at least 5 large books of different philosophical views. It was tough and boring reading but that was no excuse for slacking in the class. I was put on probation and my Dad threatened to cut off all money for school if I didn't bring up my grades. It was a wake up call for me, for sure.
Good things did happened that year, too. I tried out and was accepted in the Program Bureau, an organization that was responsible for putting on variety shows at the university and also around the state of Utah. Janie Thompson was the inspiration behind the shows and expected a lot of her performers as Program Bureau was know for their exciting and very professional shows. I was a dancer. This eventually led to me having the incredible opportunity of performing with an entertainment team that went on a four and a half month tour of the Middle East and Europe, my sophomore year. More about that later.
An embarrassing thing that happened to me was during my first semester. I had been up late one night studying and had to get up early the next morning to take a test. I got up with my alarm, went into the bathroom, turned on the bath water and proceeded to go lie down in my bed, just til the bathtub filled. I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up with a start, and put my feet on the floor, our bedroom was covered with at least an inch of water. I jumped up and sloshed my way into the bathroom to turn off the water. It had overflowed into two of the three bedroom and even down into the kitchen. I was so embarrassed to have to wake up my roommates and tell them what had happened. I spent the rest of the morning mopping up the water. Of course, I missed my test and had to go explain to my professor what had happened. One good thing, our apartment floors had never been so clean.
A sad thing that happened, my freshman year, was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. That day is still vivid in my memory. I remember walking across campus and hearing about the death of our President. Classes were cancelled so I just went home to my dorm. I was in shock and the only thing that I could think of was to call home, which I did. My parents couldn't do much, as they were so far away, but just to hear their reassuring voice calmed my spirits. I wondered if our country would ever recover from such a devastating event. It was at that exact time that my country of the United States of America and the freedoms we enjoy became sacred to me.
At the end of the year, my friend Tanya Hale, encouraged me to try out for the pep squad at the university. There were song leaders, cheerleader (all men), and flag twirlers on the pep squad. Tanya and I tried out to be a flag twirler. We went to a few rehearsals to learn the routines and then went to the auditions. We were put in different groups and asked to perform the routine we had learned. I was so nervous as I had never twirled flags before and it was way different from the song leading I had done in high school. My flag would often get tangled and I even missed a couple of the steps. The second time I was asked to perform with a group, I was doing quite well until I got too close to one of the judges and almost hit him in the head with my flag. He fell back on his chair and all I could do was laugh. At that point, the judges noticed my smile, probably the only time I had smiled the whole day, and decided that I (or maybe my smile) needed to be a part of the pep squad. I received my flags that day and was a part of a team of six flag twirlers, six song leaders, and six cheerleader. I felt so honored and was so glad my friend Tanya had made the squad, too.
The summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I had to work to make some money for school. I worked at Brock's department store as a gift wrapper. I was able to take a break for a few days and visit my friend, Tanya. She lived in Glendale, California. Her parents owned and ran the Hale Family theater there which was a theater in the round. We attended a show there and I was so impressed with the quality of the show. Both Tanya and her older sister, Sally, became my roommates the next year in a house, off campus, at 880 North 80 West. There would be 7 of us - myself, Tanya, Sally, Anna, Melinda, a freshman (I can't remember her name) and my friend, Donna Mills. Anna and Melinda were Cougarettes, the BYU Dance team, and with Tanya, Sally and myself as flag twirlers, our house was a busy place.
In August of 1964, I had to return to school early to go on a program bureau tour to Arizona. We were gone a full week. When I returned it was time to start practicing with the pep squad. We had routines to make up and uniforms to be fitted and others to be made in order to be ready for the first football game. A busy but exciting time, for sure. Because I was at school early, I was there at the time all the freshman students arrived for their orientation. One of my roommates was a freshman so I took her to the freshman welcome dance on campus. That night changed my life.....
I checked into my apartment in the Lucy Mack Smith Hall which was a part of the Heritage Halls living quarters. The dorm room had 3 bedrooms and a kitchen eating area. Outside was a common study and visiting area. My apartment was on the lower level of a three story building. I had 5 roommates, with two in each bedroom. Two roommates were sisters and two were best friends. They were from Salt Lake and Pocatella, Idaho and went home almost every weekend. Gratefully, my exact roommate, Bella, stayed in Provo, but she was not a freshman, so we didn't have a lot in common. As a group of roommates, we all chipped in money for the week and one person would cook dinner each night for a week. We had apartment checks every week and, too, often we failed them. This made my roommates angry at our senior resident so they plotted ways to get back at her. I remember one night, my roommates sneaking into her room, which was just upstairs from ours, and taking her underwear and hanging all around her apartment. I don't know how they got in but they did. We had a curfew and had to be in our dorms by 10 p.m. on weeknights and 12 midnight on weekends. There were a few night that some of us had to knock on the window of our apartment so our roommates could let us in the back door. That was the beauty of being on the lower level of the dorm.
I remember registering for my classes once I arrived. Registration took place in the large dirt floor area of the Smith Field House. There were tables set all around and we would line up at the table which held the cards for the class we wanted. We would pick up a card, if there was still room in the class, and then proceed to another table for another class. It was a frustrating time as often the classes you wanted were filled and you would have to make on the spot adjustments to what classes you could take that semester.
College proved to be a fun time but one with almost too much freedom. I got caught up in dating and having fun. I often did not go to class or nor did I study very hard, especially my second semester, so my grades suffered tremendously. I took an incomplete in a shorthand class that I hated and got a real low grade in a philosophy class that required us to read at least 5 large books of different philosophical views. It was tough and boring reading but that was no excuse for slacking in the class. I was put on probation and my Dad threatened to cut off all money for school if I didn't bring up my grades. It was a wake up call for me, for sure.
Good things did happened that year, too. I tried out and was accepted in the Program Bureau, an organization that was responsible for putting on variety shows at the university and also around the state of Utah. Janie Thompson was the inspiration behind the shows and expected a lot of her performers as Program Bureau was know for their exciting and very professional shows. I was a dancer. This eventually led to me having the incredible opportunity of performing with an entertainment team that went on a four and a half month tour of the Middle East and Europe, my sophomore year. More about that later.
An embarrassing thing that happened to me was during my first semester. I had been up late one night studying and had to get up early the next morning to take a test. I got up with my alarm, went into the bathroom, turned on the bath water and proceeded to go lie down in my bed, just til the bathtub filled. I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up with a start, and put my feet on the floor, our bedroom was covered with at least an inch of water. I jumped up and sloshed my way into the bathroom to turn off the water. It had overflowed into two of the three bedroom and even down into the kitchen. I was so embarrassed to have to wake up my roommates and tell them what had happened. I spent the rest of the morning mopping up the water. Of course, I missed my test and had to go explain to my professor what had happened. One good thing, our apartment floors had never been so clean.
A sad thing that happened, my freshman year, was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. That day is still vivid in my memory. I remember walking across campus and hearing about the death of our President. Classes were cancelled so I just went home to my dorm. I was in shock and the only thing that I could think of was to call home, which I did. My parents couldn't do much, as they were so far away, but just to hear their reassuring voice calmed my spirits. I wondered if our country would ever recover from such a devastating event. It was at that exact time that my country of the United States of America and the freedoms we enjoy became sacred to me.
At the end of the year, my friend Tanya Hale, encouraged me to try out for the pep squad at the university. There were song leaders, cheerleader (all men), and flag twirlers on the pep squad. Tanya and I tried out to be a flag twirler. We went to a few rehearsals to learn the routines and then went to the auditions. We were put in different groups and asked to perform the routine we had learned. I was so nervous as I had never twirled flags before and it was way different from the song leading I had done in high school. My flag would often get tangled and I even missed a couple of the steps. The second time I was asked to perform with a group, I was doing quite well until I got too close to one of the judges and almost hit him in the head with my flag. He fell back on his chair and all I could do was laugh. At that point, the judges noticed my smile, probably the only time I had smiled the whole day, and decided that I (or maybe my smile) needed to be a part of the pep squad. I received my flags that day and was a part of a team of six flag twirlers, six song leaders, and six cheerleader. I felt so honored and was so glad my friend Tanya had made the squad, too.
The summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I had to work to make some money for school. I worked at Brock's department store as a gift wrapper. I was able to take a break for a few days and visit my friend, Tanya. She lived in Glendale, California. Her parents owned and ran the Hale Family theater there which was a theater in the round. We attended a show there and I was so impressed with the quality of the show. Both Tanya and her older sister, Sally, became my roommates the next year in a house, off campus, at 880 North 80 West. There would be 7 of us - myself, Tanya, Sally, Anna, Melinda, a freshman (I can't remember her name) and my friend, Donna Mills. Anna and Melinda were Cougarettes, the BYU Dance team, and with Tanya, Sally and myself as flag twirlers, our house was a busy place.
In August of 1964, I had to return to school early to go on a program bureau tour to Arizona. We were gone a full week. When I returned it was time to start practicing with the pep squad. We had routines to make up and uniforms to be fitted and others to be made in order to be ready for the first football game. A busy but exciting time, for sure. Because I was at school early, I was there at the time all the freshman students arrived for their orientation. One of my roommates was a freshman so I took her to the freshman welcome dance on campus. That night changed my life.....
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