About 20 years ago

I was finishing up my freshman year of college. I lived in the dorms. I think the end of the school year was around April 23. I was probably getting nervous about final exams in things like Calculus 2, Chemistry 2, and Macroeconomics. Never would I have guessed that two decades later I'd be married to a handsome guy who is very unusual (I always knew if I married, it would be someone out of the ordinary), have three kids, be a stay-at-home mom, and live in Virginia.

The only thing that is as I expected is that I have a small house with a big yard with lots of garden areas. I always knew I was in love with plants and dirt.

I wonder what happened to the girls (but not enough to try to hunt them down--I'm hiding from a crazy ex-boyfriend that I started dating shortly before my freshman year was over). My roommate Ronda was going to be a physical therapist. I think she changed to nursing a couple years later. I wonder if she married the guy she'd been dating since high school. If they did, I bet they're divorced. I didn't think it was a good match.

My suitemates Stacey and Theresa were nice enough, but we had nothing in common. Stacey was studying to be an elementary school teacher. She's schedule her classes around her soap operas. I heard she finished up and got a job in Okalahoma. Theresa was studying accounting but changed it to human resources and development, considered to be the easiest major at the college. I'm sure it is important to do. I knew lots of people who switched to it, and it made them a whole lot happier. Theresa was nice enough, but generally a sour person. I'm sure she married her boyfriend. He had a best friend who'd cheat on his girlfriend frequently so I imagine he wasn't so good with fidelity, either, but you never know. I've noticed people who like to engage in such things like to encourage others to so they can share the guilt or feel less guilty since everyone's doing it.

Down the hall was Bernie. She wore clothes and makeup sort of like a model. When she walked into a room, everyone knew she was there, especially the men. She dated a Red Wing (professional hockey player) for a little while, but I imagine she ended up marrying someone more like a doctor or a lawyer. Once in a while, you could say I'd seen her with her makeup off (not literally). She'd be deep in tears over some breakup in her life, afraid no one would ever lover her again. I liked her. She was very nice under the makeup.

Bernie's roommates were Pat and Maya. Pat loved athletics. I bet she's still jogging even today. Maya wore makeup well, but she was a size bigger than Bernie from the waist down, and she didn't have Bernie's presence when she entered the room.

Next door were Jen and Pam. Jen was studying finance. She had natural platinum blond hair, and would have been very pretty if it weren't for her personality. She was very moody so I usually stayed away. Pam was studying nursing. She was very pretty, had long curly light brown hair, and was short. She was very nice. She had a car, and I'd go to church with her sometimes.

Across from them was Angela and Zina. Angela became my roommate the next year. We're still in touch. She became an accountant. She met the perfect older guy (someone who already graduated and was a computer programmer at a car company) when she was a freshman (the year before I was), but it ended up not working out because she wanted to date other people. Years later, Angela is looking for a nice guy like that but hasn't found one (as far as I know). The timing was off. I might stay with her when I'm in the Detroit area this summer.

Zina was from Jordan. She had an aunt and uncle who lived in a town near the college. I heard she stayed through the summer semester and had a personal sexual revolution. By the next year she had transferred to a more prestigious university.

A bit down the hall were Karen, Jen, and Denise. Karen and I were in the same major (electrical engineering) so we had a lot of classes together. She actually completed her degree, while I transferred schools and got a degree in chemical engineering. Jen and my suitemate Stacey had lots of classes together. I heard she also went to Oklahoma to be an elementary school teacher. Denise was my boss when I catered at the university for events. She was very nice. Later Karen said it was really weird--things were getting stolen in their closets, and only Denise could have done it. Sometimes they'd turn up in Denise's stuff and she'd have no idea why. Something strange was going on there.

Michelle (or if that wasn't her name, I can't remember what was) and Bonnie lived down the hall from them. She liked alternative music and was studying to be a high school math teacher. She often had a grumpy look on her face, but she was very nice. She had a collection of items that she melted, such as toothpaste tubes and plastic wine glasses. She understood my love of lighting alcohol on fire to see which drinks were high enough proof to burn (too bad I no longer remember). Bonnie was going to be an electrical engineer, but the math got to her and she changed majors to psychology. She liked it a lot better. She was gorgeous in a Baywatch sort of way.

Erica and Laurel lived down the hall. They were from the area, and had rich parents. They had computers when no one else did, new cars, and fantastic clothing. We had nothing in common, but they were nice. They had a suitemate named Sherri who was a year older. She was nice but a bit moody.

Back around down the hall were Kelly, Beth, and Amy. Beth was tall, blond, and beautiful, and other than that, I can't remember anything about her. Kelly was going to be a journalist. She and I were the only ones on the floor in the Honors College. She was smart and witty and very, very nice. Amy was nice enough, but she had a lot of black moods and was a bit of a martyr. She was going to be a physical therapist.
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I guess this was a pointless post. I sort of wondered how many I remembered. I know I left out the RA, but I forgot her name. I'm afraid she isn't alive by now. She'd had a liver or kidney transplant, and she used a cane because the antirejection drugs destroyed her hip bone. I think more was wrong with her by the end of the year. She wanted to be an actress.

The one thing we all had in common is that we requested to be on a non-smoking floor back in the days when everyone smoked everywhere. It was the only non-smoking floor on campus. I hope those girls are doing well. Now they're somewhere around 40. I turn 39 this September, and I was one of the youngest.

Anyway, I hope I got their stories right, but after 20 years, who knows what I can still remember correctly, who I mixed up, and who I forgot.