Last time you talked about decisions for college. Anything you want to add?
I do. I chose to enroll at Bucknell University because it reportedly had a good engineering program. Dad and I checked it out, and it seemed like a pleasant place to go.
Where is it?
In Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Well, I’d like to talk about preparing for college. First what I did and then what Bucknell did.
Okay.
In deciding to take engineering courses, I knew there would be a lot of reports to write. Lab tests to report on, for instance. Testing motors. And electrical circuits. That sort of thing.
I guess so.
And I figured I’d better learn to type. So I bought a portable Smith Corona.
It was in a case with a carrying handle. The lid came off, and I could type with it still on the base. Or take it out. Either way. But it was manual. Not electric.
People-power.
Right. But here’s where another decision came in. Hunt-and-peck or touch-typing?
The two-finger approach would get me started right away, but it’s slower in the long run. Touch typing — the no-peeking method — would be faster in the long run, but would take longer to learn. And my fingers — and brain — would have to learn the standard QWERTY keyboard.
I decided on touch-typing. But what would I type? And where’s the motivation?
What did you decide?
It was baseball on TV to the rescue.
Since I enjoyed watching the Brooklyn Dodgers anyway, I would watch a game and type what was happening on the screen.
It worked out well. Of course, I made typos trying to keep up with the action, but that was okay. I was learning.
What would you type?
Oh, it would be something like
Robinson swings. Fly ball to center. Ashburn back to wall. Jumps.
And it worked?
It took a while. But it kept me from looking at the keyboard. And, by the time I went off to college in September, I was ready.
Good. But you said the college itself helped prepare you.
Right. It can all be a little confusing for a freshman.
I’ll bet.
So they took the freshman class and divided us into groups and gave us several orientations on different subjects.
They gave us tests in English and math to evaluate each freshman’s level. If one needed some help, he or she was put in a basic course. I did well enough on the tests that I was put in more advanced courses. Can’t remember what the math course was called, but the English class was called Western World Literature. The writings of mostly American and European authors. Nicknamed World Lit.
Anything else?
Yep. Sports was also a part of it. And Bucknell’s mascot was the bison.
So several cheerleaders gathered groups of us around to clue us in and rehearse some songs and cheers.
Since Alfred University was our first opponent on the football schedule, each cheer we rehearsed would end with the shout: “Beat Alfred.”
And get this. Although our cheers against other opponents would end with their names, the words “Beat Alfred” were so ingrained in our memories that they became a greeting of sorts over the years.
Even in 2002 — at the Class of ’52’s 50th anniversary reunion — the call of “Beat Alfred” could be heard as a friendly greeting between alumni.
A pleasant memory.
Definitely.