Alma Mater Calls

An oldie, but a goodie, originally posted October 7, 2007 -- Grandma's birthday!


It is Saturday afternoon and I find myself back in the Memorial Union. I have on a bright orange hooded sweatshirt, jeans and a backpack. Memories from 1996-2000 are flooding my mind. Although I am at a place I will always consider home, I can't help but feel a tad homesick. The fight song is playing and the bookstore is bustling with mothers and daughters checking out all of the new OSU clothes. So far I have spent nearly 1/2 of the game in the MU, and I feel like I could stay here all day. The ballroom smells like it always did, with the floors as shiny as ever. I made a stop in my favorite bathroom on campus - best view - looks right out to the psych building.

I am currently waiting for my Woodstock's pizza to be ready, and pondering passing through my old psych building on the way back to the tailgate area. The Commons area of the MU is very quiet today. I am sure it will be very different in a couple weeks when the OSU dads invade this beautiful campus.

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I have my pineapple pizza, my bread sticks and my marinara - I'm set to jet! Walking back to what I will always call Parker Stadium, I realize I am following the same pathways that I walked nearly every day for four years. Old habits die hard! Fiona Apple has come on my iPod and I feel almost overwhelmed. Fiona got me through college. Sophomore year she was practically my best friend. We exercised together, we spent nights not sleeping together, we watched uneaten meals go by together. She completed me. The song at the moment is Across the Universe.

Words are flowing out like
endless rain into a paper cup
they slither while they pass
they slip away across the universe.
Pools of sorrow
waves of joy
are driving through my open mind
possessing and caressing me

It hit me. OSU is my Pleasantville. Everything is good here. Life is happy. It is black and white, there is no rain or sadness in Pleasantville. Happily I have no rain for the moment!

This is my favorite time of year in Corvallis. Majestic trees line the streets and at the moment are the most beautiful things I have seen in a long time. One tree alone has shades of green, red, yellow, and orange. So much color accenting all of these stoic brick buildings. I can stand in just one spot and look around at the best years of my life.

To the southeast I see my old dorms. My time in the dorms is almost indescribable. I had awesome moments as well as moments where I really saw how ugly and racist people can be. I studied a lot in there and I spent a lot of time NOT studying!

To the southwest is Reser Stadium. I can hear the roar of the crowd right now. I can't help but remember 1996. The Beavers lost nearly ever game. Students didn't need a ticket at all - our section would remain bare nearly every game. But we always had fun! Dressing up in our orange and black, braiding our hair and deciding how cold it may be so we could dress appropriately. I didn't even have to worry about driving. I had a 2 minute walk from my bed to the stadium entrance. Life was so carefree and fun! My friends were working their hardest on the field, and even though they didn't always win, they were still the guys I lived with and watching them was always exciting!

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Even when I was a student, I never got tired of the walk down this street. People were always pleasant and I just knew I was lucky to be some place that I had found to be so peaceful and inspiring.

For my friends that are thinking about or are currently in college, I give you this advice... enjoy every single minute, good and bad! College was not a piece of cake, but with every negative moment I could find a positive. It has been 7 years since I was a student walking on these marble floors, and not one day has gone by that I haven't thought about my time here and missed it. I experienced so much, it would take a book to cover it all. I had times that I will probably never speak of, but they will always remain important to me and never be forgotten. Homework sucks, but I still miss it. Writing research papers actually sounds like fun to me now and I constantly find myself looking at things in a statistical way through the eyes of a psych major. (Female psych majors - watch out for them!)

Oregon State is the place that led me to Disney, which ended up being my biggest life changing experience to date. I can't, and don't even want to imagine life had I not been a proud Beaver. I come from a long line of Beavers and I think we are all very proud to be OSU alumni!
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So, as most people I know try to insult me and my school, you might notice an eye roll or perhaps the silent treatment for a while. This is why. You think you are talking smack and childishly insulting an entire school based on a football score. Well, to me you are insulting my memories, my education and my family. You won't hear me trash talking a team that you root for. I don't do it, it's not my style. To me football games are about family, and supporting those sons on the field that are making memories for new and future Beavers.

OSU is my happy place. If I didn't live in Roseburg, I would without a doubt be up in Corvallis.

My name is R**** R**, and I am proud to call OSU my alma mater!