Before and During the College Years

This again is for Maddie, Ella and Sam:

Lily Tomlin has been town recently, and advertisements for her show reminded me of my precollege year and those during the 4 years of college. Remember her skit as a switchboard operator with the "one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies," etc.?

While in high school, I really had no thought about going to college or what else I would do. We had a counselor, but she did no college advising. My parents were poor, and I thought there was no way I could afford to go to college. My two best friends at the time--Marylyn Fletcher and Rodney Spaulding--persuaded me otherwise. Marylyn was already in ACU and Rodney was headed that way, so naturally I should go too. A small scholarship for being salutatorian impelled me to think about going.

I moved to Abilene the summer after graduation, lived with my Granny Tucker and began working at Foremost Diaries there. My aunt Lynette had worked there for years, and she helped me get in. I worked full-time at first. My job entailed working in the office as a comptometer (I don't know if they still exist) operator and filling in as switchboard operator when she went to lunch or coffee or was out sick. The board was one of those old-fashioned boards with wires one stuck in holes to connect the parties. I developed a pleasant answering voice there which I still have on the phone. Working for a year full-time and living with my grandmother enabled me to save enough money to begin at ACU (one always had to have the cash to register!) and to become a student majoring in English there. I worked full-time every summer and in the Foremost office part-time during the school months for 5 years, thus funding most of my college expenses. I later took out a federal loan for teachers which I paid back over a period of 10 years. I actually got a 5 year pin at Foremost with a diamond in it. One of the things I learned while working there was that I did not want to work in that kind of job for the rest of my life. There were many good things about the job--nice people and bosses. And we were right across the street from the Dixie Pig on Butternut in Abilene where we went for break every day. I remember a luscious lemon pie similar to lemon ice box but it had a meringue on top.
Yum! I also worked in the ACU library for a couple of years at night making more money. There was a semester when I did not have the money to begin, but my friend Rodney called his folks, and they sent the $100 I needed to begin that semester. I shall always be grateful to them for that. My folks were not able to help me very much, as I still had 2 younger brothers at home. A big day came when I went to the post office, opened a letter, and found a $10 bill my dad had sent.

Since I had no car, I rode the city bus to and from ACU every day to Foremost which was way on the other side of town. I often stopped at the Kresge store downtown for lunch which always included pumpkin pie with ice cream. I managed to graduate in the alloted 4 years with honors despite my having to work.

Of course I missed out on some things at college because I had to work every afternoon, but the blessing of going far outweighed what I missed. Maddie, Ella and Sam, what I want you to know is that college is "doable" no matter what the money situation is. And I very strongly want all three of you to begin planning earlier than I did to attend. Mommy and Daddy are already saving money for you to go, but you may have to work as I did, and that is not all bad.

I later had the blessed opportunity to teach at ACU, and my office was the same one my esteemed major professor, Dr. Jim Culp, had used. I marvelled at the blessings of God which had enabled me to teach at the college which I once thought I would never be able to attend.