Introduction: I start a new blog series titled "40 For 40." I share moments and experiences I lived in my 40 years. The ESPN 30 For 30 inspired me to create my 40 For 40 blogs. The sport documentary series detailed people, sport teams, moments, events, and controversial situations. The same ideas apply to my 40 For 40.
My second 40 For 40 blog is my first exposure to college and my last exposure to college at the same university.
I visited California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) two times in my life. The first time was in April 1988. The second time was in April 1998. I share my experiences attending a university for the first time and for the last time.
I was in 8th grade when I visited Cal Poly in April 1988. It was during Cal Poly's annual open house. My dad, uncles, and aunt graduated from Cal Poly. My family and my uncle's family took a weekend trip riding in my uncle's Ford Aerostar minivan.
I remember four events on a hot day my allergies got the best of me. The first event was eating lunch. My parents, uncle, and aunt took a long time to decide where to eat lunch. The discussion happened in front of an all you can eat BBQ hosted by a club for their fund raiser. They asked questions to one of the students for a long time. We ate lunch here. I ignorantly blamed the overcooked tri-tip for aggravating my allergies.
The second event was an indoor laser light show. The packed small room was hot. I didn't know how I survived the stagnant air. There was music. There were red lasers shining on the front wall and on the ceiling. The lasers created pictures and patterns. The lasers didn't impress me given the 1988 technology. It was boring.
The third event was getting ice cream at the Dairy Science Complex. The line stretched outside the building and along the street. We lined up at least three times. The cup of ice cream was delicious. The students were taught well. I saw one building with cows.
The fourth event was entering the Student Union. In particular, I saw the grocery store with a produce section. I felt scared inside the grocery store because I imagined living independently attending college. I pictured myself shopping for my own groceries. College students shopped for their groceries in campus. They had no parents to buy food and to cook food. I had no interest living by myself. I didn't want to cook food and eat fruits. I felt I wasn't ready to live on my own. I wanted my childhood to be longer than 18 years.
We surprise visited my grandparents on my mom's side driving to Santa Barbara after the open house. We drove home the next day.
The second time I visited Cal Poly in April 1998 I graduated from San Jose State University in Dec 2007. One of my friends invited me to visit him during the annual open house weekend. The drive was the first time I drove by myself at the early morning hours in darkness. My friend wanted me to arrive at 8am.
He was president of the anime club. I blended in with his friends and club members easily. His anime club was assigned a booth for their fund raiser. I assisted him setting up the booth and taking orders. The club cooked teriyaki chicken. We raised lots of money the chicken sold out. The reason was because none of the other booths cooked chicken.
The end of the day my friend, another friend, and I went to the Dairy Science Complex to get free ice cream. The other friend tried to get a souvenir drinking glass at a nearby booth. The glass was sold out. We got our cup of free ice cream. The weather was mild in contrast to 1988.
We ate at Marge's Diner for dinner a short freeway drive away from campus. Most of the conversations were anime and college life. We also discussed the successful fund raiser. The food portions were huge. Giant onion rings. The mashed potatoes with skins could feed a family of four. My chicken fried steak was the biggest I'm confident to say I haven't seen any biggest size. I took home half of my dinner to eat at home the next day.
I stayed overnight at my friend's condo. He shared the condo with two roommates. The walls were decorated with anime pictures. I found out later he was the only anime fan. His roommates were not anime fans. I also found out his roommates kicked him out of the condo before the next academic school year. I showered using liquid body wash with a bath sponge for the first time. He allowed me to share his bath soap. It was a bad idea thinking about it now.
Finally, I want to share the drive back home. I listened to anime music on a cassette I copied from CDs. I shopped at the Atascadero Factory Outlet. I purchased three ties and a pair of shorts on clearance at the Polo store. I wore those ties for the first time during an interview and for my full time jobs working in commercial real estate. I drove the long way home by driving on Old Monterey Highway to avoid the traffic jam on Northbound 101 after Morgan Hill. It was a bad mistake. I drove an additional 30 minutes.
My second visit to Cal Poly was the last time I visited a university. Attending De Anza College to earn my AA degree in Accounting doesn't count because De Anza is a junior college campus.
Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com
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