My First Day

I finally arrived. Our first stop was “Checkers”, located on the corner of Martin Luther King and International Speedway Blvd.. We all placed our orders including my cheeseburger, large fry and coke. Sherrae insisted that cheese was too much of an extra cost and that I would enjoy my meal just as much without it. Agitation consumed me immediately. First, because I was not used to anyone telling me no. I usually decide that I want something and make a way to get it, even if its cheese. Secondly, it would have only cost her an extra 20 cents. I don’t believe that would have put her in the poor house….geesh. Lol…..I’m still bothered by that, 21 years later. Nevertheless, I devoured the hamburger just as I would have the cheeseburger. Our next stop would be the place I would spend the next four years of my life…..”The Living Learning Center (LLC)”.

LLC also sat on Martin Luther King Blvd., crossing Dunn avenue and adjacent to Friendship Missionary Baptist Church (where I would become a member). It comprised two girls dormitories, Moore and Lee Hall and one boys dormitory, Thompson Hall. Renamed the “Long Lost City” because of its great distance from the rest of the campus, LLC housed students who exemplified academic excellence in high school. Given my poor g.p.a., I don’t know how I ended up there. But, I guess things happen the way they were supposed to. I met some of my best friends in LLC and a good deal of those relationships remain to date. There was Brian, Amber, Courtney, Alisha, Bishop, Rod, Brad, Slep and last but not least, Ron.

We unpacked, organized and decorated. I was so proud of my room. My summer job at the neighborhood grocery store afforded me window curtains, 2 bedspreads, 2 sheet sets, a pillow, a floor rug, a shower caddy, and clothes. My side of the room was decorated in hues of blue, one of my favorite colors. My maternal grandmother loaned me a refrigerator which I returned that following summer (I believe). She made it clear that it was only being loaned and that I needed to return it in the same condition I’d accepted it. Smh, I will leave that alone for now. My microwave came from home. It was black, tiny and filled with roaches. For those that don’t know, when roaches infiltrate your home, they inhabit everything in within your home, including your refrigerator, stove cabinets, couch and microwave. And when that item is moved from one place to another, the roaches travel with them. Needless to say, I had to get rid of that microwave or the critters would have made themselves very comfortable in my room. And had someone come to visit me, how would I ever be able to convince them that I wasn’t nasty and unclean?

Our next venture was registration. As I walked into Moore gymnasium, I hear and see hundreds of students (accompanied by their parents) scrambling trying to figure out schedules, where to get books and most of all, what the hell was going on. My alma mater stood tall in disorganization and the chaos I witnessed my first day there was an example. There were no lines, signs or processes, just noise. Every inch of the gym was occupied with people talking over one another. It was more like the scene of a social gathering than students formally entering college. After hours of questions, walking to other buildings and waiting, I finally got my schedule. There it was, my past coming back to haunt me. I would now have to pay for all of the times Robyne and I skipped school….all of the times I decided not to do my homework…all of the times I chose sleep over reading “The Scarlet Letter”. I was placed in remedial english, reading and math. I was floored…Insulted while determined. I knew that I had to make some major moves to get out of those classes because the word “remedial” didn’t reflect anything about “Charkes”.