I know this is wicked, but here are more of my memorable thoughts about college life:
- 4 AM fire alarms in the dorm—trust me, this is no fun. The alarms are deafeningly loud, nobody except a zombie could sleep through this. There was an incident where a resident (probably drunk then) hit the alarm one fine morning. He was expelled soon thereafter.
- > 100°F temperatures during the Fall semesters. It’s just so hot. Fortunately, it’s dry heat, and practically every building on campus has air-conditioning. Temperatures drop drastically during the evenings though, so that brings some respite. The trick is to keep drinking fluids (no, not alcohol) otherwise I’d probably get dehydrated fast and pass out—not a pretty sight.
- Accompanying music students was fun, because I got to know about the various instruments first-hand from them. I’ve accompanied violinists, flautists, brass players, etc. And vocal majors are fun too, because half the time they seemed to be more nervous than I. The wonderful thing was that these students were serious in what they were doing—we’d be discussing tempi, sorting out difficult passages, and more often than not I had to make them feel at ease. No, I wasn’t a fierce dragon, it was just their nerves, honest. Modesty aside, when end-of-semester juries approached, my phone would be ringing off the hook—sometimes I would try not to enter the Music building, because I had frantic voice and instrumental majors searching in vain for an accompanist. Are we having fun yet?
- Going to my first American Football game was an incredible experience—the UA stadium is so darn big, accommodating more than 57,000 people. And the UA’s Marching Band played their hearts out during half-times, fantastic. Last but not least, eye-candy in the form of the cheerleaders.
- Attending various music concerts on campus was great too. There were many free staff and student concerts happening all semester at Crowder Hall. I managed to catch Kenny Rogers at the McKale Center as a friend decided not to go and gave me the ticket—so why not? He was in top form, crooning in front of 15,000 fans. I saw George Benson, Chuck Mangione, and Spyro Gyra too, among others.
- I also vividly recall all those solitary practice sessions in the Music Building basement. There was always a cacophony of sound coming from the practice rooms, and sometimes it was so difficult to concentrate on what I was playing. There were metronomes tick-tocking, it was crazy. But there was good interaction between us music students, discussing stuff, sometimes just goofing off, that sort of thing. Yeah I thought those were stressful times, but they seemed very carefree compared to the present. I want to go back!
- Don’t tell my mom, but hee hee, I found time to watch TV and movies too. This was the era of Dallas, Dynasty, Hill Street Blues (let’s be careful out there!), Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., etc. The first Star Wars trilogy had yet to end, in fact I watched Return of the Jedi here in Tucson. And Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan had just come out. And E.T. (great flick) The list goes on and on. I usually watched TV in the lobby area, but when a friend wanted to sell his small TV for cheap, I bought it for a paltry $10. Later when I left the States for good, I sold it for $20—how’s that?
- I can’t leave out the music that I liked at this moment in my life. For starters I was just getting into Pat Metheny (I have so many of his CDs now) the man’s a genius. Not forgetting Styx, Journey, The Alan Parsons Project (listening to it right now!) Oscar Peterson, Al Jarreau, etc. That’s the great thing about music—evoking memories of years past for me. What a cliché, but those were good times. And last but not least, classical music—I loved it, especially going to the Music Library during my free times, pulling out a record or two and then just listening. Pure bliss. Unfortunately, when I brought some records and cassettes home, they warped and gave all kinds of trouble—thank goodness for compact discs! My classical collection now is completely on CD.
Funny, I find music gives me my nudge down memory lane. Just one song can start a flood of memories for me. But yes, those were the carefree days I sometimes long for too…..
It’s amazing what memories music can conjure up…’tis a strange feeling, but nice.
Yes it’s an interesting feeling indeed to be lost in the past from something in the present.
What a wonderful comment; thank you, Doris. Sorry I can’t give you rep points here!
My Dear Philip,
Where were you when I needed an accompanist? I had to settle for mediocrity when I could have had the best. I knew I should have plucked up the courage to exchange that photo op for a phone number.
And one more thing…
I’m going to have to disagree with you as to what was the eye-candy at the UA football games. I enjoyed more the football players’ butts in those tight spandex pants. But, to each his own, right? LOL
Lost in the past from something in the present…that’s what’s happening to me right now!
PR, if you had asked me to be your accompanist, I would be totally…distracted *giggle*