Sunday evening we decided to take our little family on a walk through campus. We relived memories from the college days as we strolled along, hoping that our girls could somehow appreciate the significance of that time in our lives.
Walking through campus with our girls brought back a flood of memories for both of us. Memories of lunch at the Cougareat, church services in the Kimball Tower, and classes in the MARB. Jared told stories of riding his bike up to campus and of the ideal part-time job he had working for a Chemistry professor. I recalled memories of working in the ASB and of those dreaded walks to the testing center.
Jared and I didn't even know each other when we were students, but as he talked about classes he took, buildings he worked in, and routes he followed to get to campus, I wondered if our paths ever crossed during the time our education years overlapped each other.
As we talked about college life, I thought to myself that it's probably a good thing our paths were separate during that time. Being single throughout college gave both of us an opportunity to truly experience student life and to particularly enjoy the social benefits. I grew up a lot during those years. I'm glad I had those years...especially now as I reflect on them.
A good, healthy portion of my life was lived on the BYU campus...watching movies, attending plays, enjoying concerts, bowling, socializing and flirting, organizing study groups, sleeping on the benches that lined the hall in the RB, sleeping in the library carrels, using the library carrels for occasional study, getting lots of help in the Math lab, going to afternoon devotionals, grabbing quick snacks at the Smith Fieldhouse track eatery, visiting my mom in her office during class breaks, purchasing an occasional treat of Super Sour Stars at the Wilkinson candy counter, sitting in on lecture after lecture after lecture, people watching when I should have been studying, building my classical book collection at the BYU bookstore, altering my routes to run into the cute boys I wanted to notice me, collecting loans in the ASB as my part-time job, taking tests, laughing at all the Zoobies who slipped and fell on the icy walks during the winter (with an occasional slip and fall myself), walking around the track, playing tennis, going to dances, cheering on the football, basketball, and volleyball teams.
And that doesn't even cover what took place off campus - canyon parties, dates, girls-night's out, movies, restaurants, road trips, frozen-yogurt runs, family home evenings (complete with a "mom" and a "dad"), game nights, laser tag, ice skating, tubing, skiing, writing papers, hikes, hot tubbing, volleyball & softball games, ultimate frisbee, video nights, semi-completing reading assignments, Sunday night ward prayer, Jazz game parties, chicken fights in the swimming pool, eating cereal for dinner, combining food with roommates to prepare an occasional substantial meal.
I even learned stuff at BYU - as in, book learning.
What a great place. What a great time of life. Jared and I both loved our BYU experiences, yet neither of us would want trade places with this phase of our life to go back. A time and a season. We loved the season "back in the day" and we love the season of today.
Last Sunday night we appreciated the fact that our girls are gaining their own appreciation of BYU...as a playground. Brita said it's the best playground she's ever been to. They rolled down hills, skipped along the walks, climbed on bike racks, played on and studied sculptures, danced on cement slabs, hung on poles, and swung on tree branches.
The girls want to go back every week and they want us to show them something different each time we go. It's nice that they are learning to appreciate a place that holds so much meaning for their dad and me.
Jared and I attended BYU to gain an education. The girls like it for a playground. That's probably not such a bad thing. I heard a lot of learning can take place on the playground. After all, it seems to have worked for Jared and me.
3 comments:
So where did your mom work? I wonder if I ever interacted with her.
Rachelle- I'll tell you what. We were meant to be kindred spirits! Have we NEVER discussed in our entire friendship that I worked in the ASB building while at BYU too? I worked in the Placement Center! And loved it! How fun that you took the girls to campus.
Like you, I'm glad the way things turned out for me and for Dave. Had our pathes crossed sooner in life, I know we wouldn't have hooked up.
I miss the Y!! I haven't been back in over a decade and I'd love to show my kids my haunts. I'd especially like to model the hairnet and polyester brownish plaid dress that I wore while I washed dishes at the Helaman halls dining room. :)
loved your walk down memory lane...
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