Saturday, September 19, 2009

College Days

My daughter is off to college this month in Washington, DC so I have been thinking about my first day at undergraduate and at graduate school. Undergraduate I went to Montclair, and for orientation in the physics and chemistry labs I met Glen Erdman. He had a dual pouch Frisbee bag with him that had a strap that went over his shoulder. Later that day I was sitting on the floor of the student lounge and Glen saw me. He did multiple somersaults across the length of the lounge until he reached me. We were friends from that moment on.

For graduate school I went to Rutgers, I wasn't sure if I was going to commute or get a room down there. It was my first day, it was getting dark early, and I was at the bookstore on French Street and bought "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". I was alone, I didn't know anyone, but the book made me smile, as I read it in the McDonalds adjacent to the bookstore. The following week I found a room to rent and Robert Lag was my landlord.