The boys are back!
There are parts of my past that I don't talk about often. Other than my junior year in Spain, I don't talk about college much, and I hadn't spoken to anybody from Rutgers in many many years. Lo and behold, one of the guys I used to hang out with at RU looked me up on LinkedIn and sent me a message. And presto! I have three old friends back! So here's a little of my backstory, brought to you by the reminiscing I've been doing since I heard from Arc two weeks ago.
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At the end of my freshman year in college, I made friends with a bunch of odd guys in my dorm. And when I say odd, I mean, interesting, different, funny, strange, goofy... They were mostly roommates -- Chuck and Adam, Bill and Chris (aka Arc), Tom, Ken (Clubber), Jason and Chad. I don't know how I hooked up with them, but by the time I left for my trip to Spain after sophomore year, I couldn't imagine how I was going to live without them.
We watched a lot of Star Trek: TNG and played a lot of card games and ate pizza at odd hours. Let's see. Chuck was (probably still is) a pyromaniac. He set all kinds of things on fire, including his roommate's desk, with a nice splash of WD-40. We didn't particularly like his roommate that first year (Joel). I don't remember Adam until sophomore year, when he became Chuck's roommate. Chuck and I had a "thing" at the end of freshman year, and then I spent most of my sophomore year trying to find someone else... and failing, so Chuck and I had more of a "thing" at the end of sophomore year. ;) Chuck was also a serious pool player, with his own cue, so we spent a lot of time shooting pool at the student center. I have to say, it was a little depressing to lose so often.
Bill and Chris were sort of the odd couple... Bill was soft and round, and Arc was tall and angular (his name was Arc -- short for Archimedes -- because he could tell you the digits of Pi to the 200th digit, or something like that). They were hilariously funny together, and well-matched as roommates. Arc dressed all in black, and used to ride around on his bike and hum the wicked witch music from the Wizard of Oz. Arc was also the one who took my name and rearranged the letters to turn me into "Yamless," which is what they all called me after that.
The first time I met Tom, or at least, one of the first things I remember about Tom, was cleaning up after him after he'd had a few too many to drink. Tom was the one with the weight bench in his dorm room, where they all gathered to show off how much they could bench press with their shirts off. Tom knew he was going to be a lawyer from the beginning. He and I were the only non-engineers in the bunch, so we were frequently the only people in the dorm on exam nights.
The other future lawyer was Jason, though he started off with an engineering degree. He split his time with a different crowd (they thought they were waaay cooler than we were) but he was just as geeky as the rest of the guys -- he just didn't like to admit it.
Ken (whom we called Clubber, after Rocky's opponent in Rocky III) had been a wrestler in high school and liked to show off his bod. He was always running around barefoot, and could pick things up with his toes. Sophomore year, he went out with a girl named Tammy, who got him hooked on baby food. (I never understood that one.) Ken was always good for a hug. Of course, he used those opportunities to try to guess my bra size, but that was to be expected, I suppose... we were in college. :) Ken's sophomore roommate was 32 years old: Clay was a Marine who came back to school so he could get an engineering degree and make better weapons. Clay and I were good friends - he was one of the only people I could talk about politics and current events with (although he was a rabid Republican, so we did plenty of arguing!)
Chad was a freshman in our dorm sophomore year. He was awkward and geeky, like the rest, so he fit in perfectly. If there wasn't anything else going on, we watched ST:TNG in Chad's room every afternoon before we went to dinner. Chad, Bill and I went to see Bryan Adams in concert at the Meadowlands. (yes, I said Bryan Adams. shush.) I am ashamed to say I can't even remember Chad's last name right now.
So, like I said, an odd bunch of guys. But these guys were my life. I used to get funny looks from other girls when we all walked into the dining hall together, but really, they had nothing to be jealous of. (well, except Ken and Tom, I suppose, who got all the female attention.) When Star Trek: Generations came out, we all went to see it together -- I think there were a dozen of us -- two *in uniform* (Tom, Chuck) and the rest in ST t-shirts. We were nerds, but it was fun. :)
When the time came to go to Spain for my junior year abroad, I was sad to leave all the guys. They were sweet, promised to write, and gave me a pink teddy bear to take with me. I slept with it every night, and I still have it! They wrote to me at least once. heh. (Boys! what did I expect?)
This trip down memory lane is thanks to Arc, Ken and Tom, who have all emailed me in the past week. They're all married (or effectively married), with a total of six kids between them. I don't know if I'll see any of them soon, but it's so neat to catch up and hear what they've been up to.
Here's a picture from Bill's wedding 10 years ago that one of the guys sent me. L-R that's Jason, Arc, Chuck, Tom, Bill, Ken, Adam, and Chad. I have to say, they hadn't changed much since graduation at that point.... I wonder if the ensuing decade has made much of a difference?
---
At the end of my freshman year in college, I made friends with a bunch of odd guys in my dorm. And when I say odd, I mean, interesting, different, funny, strange, goofy... They were mostly roommates -- Chuck and Adam, Bill and Chris (aka Arc), Tom, Ken (Clubber), Jason and Chad. I don't know how I hooked up with them, but by the time I left for my trip to Spain after sophomore year, I couldn't imagine how I was going to live without them.
We watched a lot of Star Trek: TNG and played a lot of card games and ate pizza at odd hours. Let's see. Chuck was (probably still is) a pyromaniac. He set all kinds of things on fire, including his roommate's desk, with a nice splash of WD-40. We didn't particularly like his roommate that first year (Joel). I don't remember Adam until sophomore year, when he became Chuck's roommate. Chuck and I had a "thing" at the end of freshman year, and then I spent most of my sophomore year trying to find someone else... and failing, so Chuck and I had more of a "thing" at the end of sophomore year. ;) Chuck was also a serious pool player, with his own cue, so we spent a lot of time shooting pool at the student center. I have to say, it was a little depressing to lose so often.
Bill and Chris were sort of the odd couple... Bill was soft and round, and Arc was tall and angular (his name was Arc -- short for Archimedes -- because he could tell you the digits of Pi to the 200th digit, or something like that). They were hilariously funny together, and well-matched as roommates. Arc dressed all in black, and used to ride around on his bike and hum the wicked witch music from the Wizard of Oz. Arc was also the one who took my name and rearranged the letters to turn me into "Yamless," which is what they all called me after that.
The first time I met Tom, or at least, one of the first things I remember about Tom, was cleaning up after him after he'd had a few too many to drink. Tom was the one with the weight bench in his dorm room, where they all gathered to show off how much they could bench press with their shirts off. Tom knew he was going to be a lawyer from the beginning. He and I were the only non-engineers in the bunch, so we were frequently the only people in the dorm on exam nights.
The other future lawyer was Jason, though he started off with an engineering degree. He split his time with a different crowd (they thought they were waaay cooler than we were) but he was just as geeky as the rest of the guys -- he just didn't like to admit it.
Ken (whom we called Clubber, after Rocky's opponent in Rocky III) had been a wrestler in high school and liked to show off his bod. He was always running around barefoot, and could pick things up with his toes. Sophomore year, he went out with a girl named Tammy, who got him hooked on baby food. (I never understood that one.) Ken was always good for a hug. Of course, he used those opportunities to try to guess my bra size, but that was to be expected, I suppose... we were in college. :) Ken's sophomore roommate was 32 years old: Clay was a Marine who came back to school so he could get an engineering degree and make better weapons. Clay and I were good friends - he was one of the only people I could talk about politics and current events with (although he was a rabid Republican, so we did plenty of arguing!)
Chad was a freshman in our dorm sophomore year. He was awkward and geeky, like the rest, so he fit in perfectly. If there wasn't anything else going on, we watched ST:TNG in Chad's room every afternoon before we went to dinner. Chad, Bill and I went to see Bryan Adams in concert at the Meadowlands. (yes, I said Bryan Adams. shush.) I am ashamed to say I can't even remember Chad's last name right now.
So, like I said, an odd bunch of guys. But these guys were my life. I used to get funny looks from other girls when we all walked into the dining hall together, but really, they had nothing to be jealous of. (well, except Ken and Tom, I suppose, who got all the female attention.) When Star Trek: Generations came out, we all went to see it together -- I think there were a dozen of us -- two *in uniform* (Tom, Chuck) and the rest in ST t-shirts. We were nerds, but it was fun. :)
When the time came to go to Spain for my junior year abroad, I was sad to leave all the guys. They were sweet, promised to write, and gave me a pink teddy bear to take with me. I slept with it every night, and I still have it! They wrote to me at least once. heh. (Boys! what did I expect?)
This trip down memory lane is thanks to Arc, Ken and Tom, who have all emailed me in the past week. They're all married (or effectively married), with a total of six kids between them. I don't know if I'll see any of them soon, but it's so neat to catch up and hear what they've been up to.
Here's a picture from Bill's wedding 10 years ago that one of the guys sent me. L-R that's Jason, Arc, Chuck, Tom, Bill, Ken, Adam, and Chad. I have to say, they hadn't changed much since graduation at that point.... I wonder if the ensuing decade has made much of a difference?
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