What colleges have you attended?

In my first foray into college life, I was just17 years old and VERY naive. It was strongly suggested that I go into computer science. I did okay but after a year of being very disillusioned I left and entered the work force; again with “guidance”. 

Ten years later I again decided that it was time to “go back to school” and went to a Junior College – Pensacola Junior College. I’m not sure where my head was or what my motivation was; but I chose Language as a major. My first language was German with a minor in Mass Communications.

This time around, things worked out well. I made the Dean’s list every semester and was invited to join the Honours Fraternity – they called it a fraternity but there were men and women in the group.

After graduation, I returned to Tallahassee after some years away and attended Florida State University. I continued with my German studies but it wasn’t long before there were more of them. First it was Russian; then Biblical Hebrew and French. For some reason my brain could not comprehend translations from Russian to English – it went from Russian to German, then to English. My class notes were all in German!

My majors became German and Russian.

My major professor in Russian started a Russian study abroad program and I was among the first group to make the trip. Five weeks in St. Petesburg with classes in the morning and tourist stuff in the afternoon. The trip also included a weekend trip to Moscow.

We were pretty much on our own for breakfast and dinner but lunch was a part of the program and was a big affair. Bread, tomatoes, and cucumbers were on the table when we walked into the dining hall. We got soup every day and an entree of beef and potatoes…in it’s infinite varieties. We were never sure of what it was exactly except that it was beef. When it came to lunch “Don’t ask Don’t tell” was the phrase of the day.

After an overnight train ride to Moscow, the first place most of the group wanted to head was the McDonald’s for hamburgers and fries – meat and potatoes! One of the caveats for McDonald’s to operate in foreign countries is that they must use local products. Their hamburgers were really good!

The following year the program was expanded to two five week programs and we had a choice of the first, second, or both programs. I chose both and spent eleven weeks in Russia! I went to a lot of cultural events – ballet, opera, concerts. I have seen “Swan Lake”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “La Traviata”, and “Cinderalla”.

Our first trip included a visit inside the Kremlin walls. While much of it was off limits – even walking in the streets; but we did visit a couple of the churches. And when I saw “Cinderella” it was at the threatre inside the Kremlin. Guards were stationed outside the theatre to ensure NO ONE when anywhere but OUT after the show.  

One of the best things for me was all the street musicians. I made friends with one of the – Peter – and we ended up spending a lot of time together. Just a few days before we were scheduled to go back to the States, Peter was hit by a car and later died. A very sad ending to my visit; but there are many, many memories of places I went and the things I saw. Whenever I see a film that is supposed to be in Russia, I always watch to see if there are any places I recognize or have been.

But there are many memories at Florida State too. A fan of baseball and football, I had season tickets to the baseball games and sat with a group of fans known as The Animals of Section B. A raucous group who had chants for all occasions and wildly cheered for the Seminole baseball team. I learned how to score a baseball game when I was a kid and would score the games. People were always asking how a player was doing, especially when they had struck out.

I made friends with some of the coaches and even witnessed one of them getting married during the intermission of a doubleheader. Wouldn’t you know, the first game went into extra innings! 

The languages I learned are mostly forgotten through a lack of use; but the events that occured during that time will last a lifetime!