supercheesegirl | Entries tagged with susquehanna

I hadn't received the Susquehanna Today alumni newsletter for a while--I think I forgot to give them my new address after I moved to PA. Well, they tracked me down, and I got it in yesterday's mail. And this time it was actually not so bad! Apparently no one from my graduating class is doing anything, and nobody I know from the preceding or later years is doing anything either. (Although apparently Jody Guillemette married Carl Steidel? Last I heard they broke up, but there was a reference for "Jody Guillemette '04 Steidel" under '04, which said "see '03", but there wasn't any mention of Carl in the '03 news. WTF? The '03 news did mention, however, that Jay Varner is rocking out and getting awards for his nonfiction, which is awesome.)

Anyway, reading the alumni newsletter is usually an exercise in getting upset about how awesome everybody else's lives are compared with mine, especially the people I particularly hated for their perfect lives back when we were undergrads together, and especially when I myself had little to no chance of ever having a wedding at all, let alone a Julie-Snyder-perfect wedding. But this time, no pain. And a whole big spread about athletics, which completely didn't interest me.

Also? Now that there's a significantly larger chance for wedding bells in my future, I'm totally plotting the photo and joyful news item I'll send to the newsletter. Definitely a part of the wedding fantasy, which is ridiculous, but still: Take that, all you annoying alumni with your snotty perfect lives! I too can reach a milestone! Although I probably won't write that in the joyful news item.

I know there's been a lot of buzz about the possibility of carcinogens being in the water/soil in Selinsgrove, PA. For those who haven't heard, this is the town where my alma mater, Susquehanna University, is located; the mother of a student who died young from cancer is possibly looking into a lawsuit.

I've read some of the articles, but most of them I just forwarded to my best friend, Sarah. Sarah is not only a Susquehanna graduate, she's also an experienced environmental scientist who currently works for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. She investigates claims like this for a living and has no problem with nailing polluting corporations to the wall. Here is what Sarah said:

I have been looking into this and checking with some people (legit training since this is what I deal with here), and the response from SU is correct. Considering the levels, the exact contaminants, the exposure pathways/concentrations/latency times, and the fact that the area is served by municipal water that is tested annually (and does NOT have any detected carcinogens in it), this is a very unfortunate coincidence.

I know some people here on LJ have been concerned, so that's why I'm posting this. I am not a scientist or environmentalist myself, but somebody I trust is, so I thought you'd like to know her thoughts.

I just got back from my reunion at Susquehanna. It was awesome to see Terri and Alyssa--I hadn't seen either of them since graduation. It was also awesome to see Gary, who's gone from an advisor and professor to a good friend. And it was good to see my old voice teacher, but sad to hear about the rough time she's having right now. I need to send her a card. I bought a new SU long-sleeved t-shirt, very cute, and a window sticker for my car that I might or might not use. Mostly it was just strange to be back there when no one I know is still a student. My last visit, there were at least a few people I knew, like Adri and John, who were still students. But now everyone I knew has graduated. It's a different school, and my only connections to it anymore are the friends I've hung onto and my memories. But it's good to see that some things don't change. The gingko berries still fall off the trees onto the walkway in front of Steele Hall. Dr. Holt's pond is still all full of scum. The hallway outside of Deg Theater still smells like the hallway outside of Deg Theater. They still make the exact same pizza and fries in Encore Cafe, even if they call it Bennie's Place now. And even though they completely remodeled the caf and moved the entrances, the music nerds all still sit in the same corner where the door used to be. That was really heartwarming, actually. A whole lot of the things that were part of my experience of Susquehanna are completely different now, but there are still kids wearing SAI and PMA letters sitting in that corner of the caf.

It's always weird to go back to Susquehanna. I absolutely loved being there, and it was completely the right school for me, so much so that I didn't even study abroad because I didn't want to give up any of my semesters there. But as much as it was home for me, it's a home that regularly turns out its inhabitants, you know? It's not home anymore. It's familiar and good, but I used to belong there completely and now I don't belong there at all. I miss the place, but going there isn't like going home; going there actually makes me more homesick for it. It's not the school itself but my experience of the school that I miss, and everything that was involved in that experience: the girl I was then, the classes I took, the friends and teachers I cared about. All of those things are over or gone. I'll never live in Reed Hall again, never tutor my friends in grammar class, and never joke around with Walt about palindromes--and that's just one sliver of a memory out of the millions I have of that time in my life. Even if everyone I loved went back for a reunion, we're all older now, different people, and it wouldn't be the same. And it's not even possible that everyone *could* go back, because there are people who can never come back, people I'll never see again: John, Nicky, Walt. Susquehanna was something that was wonderful for me but it is really, really over and it'll never happen again, and that makes me really sad. I sometimes worry that being there was the best time in my life and I'll never be that happy again, but that's not a healthy way of thinking. Of course I'll never be happy like that again, because I'm not the same person I used to be. I need different things to make me happy now, but I still suspect that if I gathered up everyone I care about and stuffed them in a residence hall where we could all live together that that would go a long way.

I could really use a hug from Miles right now. Or Paul Towsley circa freshman year when we were still tight friends, or Matt Cornish, or Tom Hnatow before he lost all that weight and turned into a skeleton, or Crawford, or Kari who I didn't even call while I was in town, or Leilani who lives on the other side of an ocean from me, or Amanda or JennAllen or JenRock. Heck, I'd like another hug from Terri, who is at the moment on a plane back up to Maine and who knows when I'll see her again. I would love a hug from Nicky right now, but I think she was laughing with us this weekend. Alyssa and Terri and I were definitely thinking of her, and of John and Walt. I wish I could slip back into, say, junior year, just for a few minutes, and just breathe that life in one more time.

I'm back from my vacation in PA. It was a really busy week, but I'm caught up on my f-list, and will hopefully be posting about everything soon. One thing, though: when I got back tonight, there was a package on the porch from one of my favorite professors, Walt Reeser. I opened it up and read the letter: Walt passed away on December 12, and his wife was writing to let me know and to send me a book he'd wanted me to have. He'd been ill for a very long time, and after a prolonged hospitalization he decided to end his dialysis treatments and spend his last week at home. He was only 58.

Walt was one of the smartest people I've ever known. I knew him as my grammar professor, but he had a career as a high school teacher of music, English, and chemistry--not exactly closely-related subjects. I know that he loved grammar and had a real gift for teaching it and making it understandable. His first name was actually Robert: there were so many Robs and Bobs and Bobbys in his family that they pulled his nickname from his middle name, Showalter. I remember him getting a kick out of the Phi Mu Alpha pledges coming to him for his signature (they had to get signatures from every brother on campus, students and profs, and I think he was the only PMA prof not teaching in the music department). We've kept in touch since I graduated, and over the years he's sent me the Norton collected Shakespeare, a cd of piano pieces he recorded himself, and a letter transcribed into Tolkien elvish. I'm sorry he never had a chance to finish the historical novel on Caesar he'd been working on for so long. I'm glad I made the time to see him when he happened to be in North Carolina--that was the last time I saw him, and it seemed to make him happy.

(The book his wife sent me: a limited edition Selected Poems of Galway Kinnell--#20 of 200--signed by the poet.)

::edit:: A few more Walt stories I wanted to share for posterity.

When I was taking Walt's grammar class, I was probably the best student in the class (I say that completely honestly--he would have said the same). Consequently, I usually understood things really well the first time he went over them, and then got bored as we practiced and reviewed until everyone got it. And because the class was scheduled right after my lunch, after I'd had a busy morning at the gym and at my job, well, I would usually doze off halfway through class. I sat right in the front, too, so it was really embarrassing. Once Walt brought in a small bottle of No-Doz and placed it at the corner of his desk so it was looking right at me. He patted the bottle and said with a smile, "In case you need it." I made sure to stay awake that day, and stopped at the cafe for cappucino to keep me going through class every day after that.

The day of the grammar class final, I was running late--not even very late, just a little late. Apparently everyone else in the class had arrived on time, and several people were looking over at my empty seat. Someone wondered if I (the aforementioned best student in the class) was even going to bother to show up for the final. Walt remarked loud enough for everyone to hear, "If she skipped the final, she'd still pass the class with a high B." When I finally dashed into the room, I was met with a chorus of grumbles. After I handed in my final Walt told me about the earlier conversation. I think I smacked him.

The following year, Walt was teaching the grammar class again and had hired me to be his teaching assistant. One day he arrived in class, pulled a long strip of paper out of his bag, and thumbtacked it to the bulletin board. The paper had a seemingly meaningless phrase typed on it. Walt said nothing about it but just went right on to that day's work. At the next class, he tacked up a similar phrase next to the first, and then again in the class after that. I think we made it to four of these before people in the class figured out the significance of them. Can you guess? My favorite was "GO HANG A SALAMI; I'M A LASAGNA HOG" and another was "A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL: PANAMA." After people figured it out, he gave the phrases to anyone who wanted one. I still have "GO HANG A SALAMI" hanging up next to my desk.

There are lots of other little things I remember about Walt. His favorite sentence to use for an example of an intransitive verb was "The cat died" because he hated cats. He once asked the class if they could come up with an example of a compound-complex sentence, and Adam Cole came out with this huge long convoluted thing about eating pop rocks and drinking soda at the same time which resulted in his head exploding. Walt got a big kick out of that. I learned the word "amanuensis" from him. Lots of things like that. He'll be missed.

Current Mood: sad

so yeah, jorn mentioned that he got this new N64 game called Pokemon Snap! and it's really fun. and i LOVE it. it's seriously the cutest game ever. you just go around this island and take pictures of really cute pokemon, and you don't have to kill anything or fight anything or capture anything. you just try to get the best and cutest pictures, and try to get the pokemon into fun poses. on saturday night, i watched Enterprise and then played this game till jorn got home from the radio station, and i only really meant to play it for a little while so i could watch an episode of buffy. and you know how i love buffy. anyway, we watched two episodes this morning, so it was all good.

friday night, jorn and i drove to raleigh to meet up with an old professor of mine (Walt Reeser, anyone? he taught the grammar class at SU, and probably writing sem or something). he's just an awesome guy, we got along so well, and he happened to be in raleigh on business (he's not teaching at SU anymore), so i got the chance to go have dinner with him. yay! and it was after we got home on friday night that we began playing Pokemon Snap (we finished the game today).

anyway, i also spent a good portion of this weekend at blandwood. i gave one tour yesterday and two today (not a whole lot for a three-hour shift), but i didn't feel like my time was wasted because yesterday i entered a bunch of items into the new computer inventory system (david gave me a stack of things to enter, and i got all of it done), and today i helped the christmas crew with decorating the house. it was fun! i love christmas decorations. maybe soon i'll post a picture of my mom's house at christmas time. hmm.

in other news. tonight i got all my shizz packed up. i'm staying at jorn's tonight, and then leaving earlyearly tomorrow morning to drive to PA for thanksgiving. i don't have any classes this week, and i had some hours saved up from work, so i decided to just take the whole week off and go teh fuck home. i'm going to surprise my mom, too--i made sure i wasn't home when she called me, and i didn't call back (we talk every sunday night). she's not expecting me till tuesday night, so she'll be so so excited to see me when i'm there when she gets home from work! of course, i'm planning on leaving at 7am to achieve this, but oh well. we do these things. it'll make her happy.

so yeah. don't expect an update for a few days. if i get on my parents' computer, hopefully it'll be to work on some poems, not to get online.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: some sort of weird electronic stuff jorn put on

(i'm posting on the sly at work when i should be doing something useful.)

had a super time in selinsgrove--hung out with miles and dylan and kari and ian, and it was great. hi to dylan, if you actually end up looking at my journal. big pancakes are awesome. i can hear the ocean. anyway, i didn't see janel (she wasn't able to make the trip after all), but i did see crawford and adri and abigail and belkot and bill and young peter. they're pretty much the only undergrads i still know anyway, and other than crawford, i didn't need a whole lot of time to catch up with them. and i got to see a bunch of other alums, like mel and felter and wilson and hnatow (holy crap, he's looking good). hnatow particularly i hadn't seen since... '99, i guess. and he's not with deb anymore, which made me smile (apparently they hadn't been together for a while, but how was i to know that?). and it's always good to see mel and felter. maybe when we move to boston i'll get to see mel more often--i wish we had hung out more when we were undergrads.

all in all, a great trip. with only marginal i'm-so-freaking-old-now sadness. and i need to go sit at the desk now and be a good little worker.