Category: college

Don’t Judge a Book . . .

Posted in attitude, college, dating, dumping someone, ethnicity, firsts, Hispanic, humor, picnic, prejudice, racist, relationships, religion, Seattle, Washington, worst1 Comment

Laurie had graduated college and had boomeranged back home to Seattle. She met a cute guy with horn-rimmed glasses. He invited her on a picnic at the beach. She said yes. “Have fun,” her mom said when Greg came to the house. Greg drove to a sandy spot with a view of the city. They… Continue reading Don’t Judge a Book . . .

Don’t Let the Bugs Bug You

Posted in best, California, childhood, children, college, entomologist, entymology, flying, insects, Iowa, junior high school, memoir, nature, outdoors, relationships, science, scientist, Venezuela, worstLeave a comment

When my new science teacher announced on the first day of 7th grade that no one would get an A in his class if they didn’t make an insect collection, I was like, “NOOOOOOOO! I hate bugs!” My mother hated bugs. Her mother hated bugs. They hated mice, snakes, and dog poop, too. I walked… Continue reading Don’t Let the Bugs Bug You

Pennies from Heaven

Posted in college, drugs, Eric Clapton, firsts, head shop, high school, humor, Iowa, J.J. Cale, memoir, music, relationships, smokingLeave a comment

When I was sixteen, I saved up my babysitting money and went downtown to Cottage Grove Avenue in Des Moines, where there was a head shop filled with incense, hanging beads, roach clips, black light posters and tie dye. Although I wasn’t a pothead (I didn’t smoke cigarettes either), I enjoyed the ambience of the… Continue reading Pennies from Heaven

Worst Professor Ever

Posted in Chicano, college, grad school, Hispanic, humor, Iowa State University, La Raza, Latino, memoir, Midwestern, Nebraska, professor, racist, relationships, research paper, University of Nebraska at Omaha, UNO, worstLeave a comment

She taught the research class at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I needed the course to earn my master’s degree. It would be easy. I’d written dozens of research papers at Iowa State. She said we could choose any topic. All we had to do was take a position, defend it with an intro,… Continue reading Worst Professor Ever

Just Sing Hey Jude

Posted in best, bridges, cars, college, Colorado, friends, guardian angel, humor, mantra, memoir, parking lot, Rocky Mountains, skiing, vacation, worst4 Comments

What’s the song you sing when you are in a bind and need to calm yourself down, without the benefit of drugs? You are going into surgery, you have run out of gas along the side of the highway, you are waiting for a phone call from your tardy teen? For me, it’s a Beatles… Continue reading Just Sing Hey Jude

Loneliest Study Abroad Ever

Posted in church, college, friends, humor, Iowa State University, memoir, relationships, restaurant, Spain, travel, vacation4 Comments

After three months in South America and six weeks of student teaching Catholic high school girls, I headed to Burgos, Spain, with 30 students and a handful of professors from Iowa State and the University of Iowa. It would be my way of earning the final credits of my dual degree. Linda, a high school… Continue reading Loneliest Study Abroad Ever

Memphis Sugar Mama

Posted in car salesman, college, dating, flirting, France, humor, liquor store, Memphis, mom, pick-up lines, relationships, romance, sugar mamaLeave a comment

After Robert’s family came to America, Robert went to college in Memphis. He met an older woman, Devon, in a liquor store. She had on a mink jacket and asked him out right there amongst the bottles of high-end scotches. She looked good for her age. She drove a Cadillac since her daddy had the… Continue reading Memphis Sugar Mama