Everything old is new again

A former student on three IU campuses and a current IU employee from the boomer generation suggests that we all 'break away' and look to the semester ahead with the fresh perspective of a freshman.

By Susan Williams, assistant editor, IU Home Pages

In May 1979, I moved to Bloomington from Indianapolis. I worked full time at the IU Department of Athletics and took classes to complete my bachelor's degree in English and German, a pursuit I began at IU Kokomo and continued nearly to completion at IUPUI.

Being new in town was exciting, especially as my arrival coincided with the release of Breaking Away. Seeing the movie that summer gave me a quick feeling of belonging. I recognized so many people and places that I suddenly felt like an insider.

In the movie, a really skinny Dennis Quaid played a local kid—a "cutter"—whose bitterness toward the college students invading his town disguised the fact that he longed to be the star quarterback. His character spent lots of time outside of Memorial Stadium—a place I now was seeing every day. In the background, behind the lamenting Quaid, was assistant football coach Trent Walters and head coach Lee Corso. I knew them!

I recognized the downtown square and many places on campus, including the old Memorial Stadium which was used as the familiar backdrop in the movie for the Little 500 bicycle race, but I'd actually watched Richie Havens perform there a few years before I lived in Bloomington. (Yes, the sun really did come out on that rainy day and along with it, a rainbow, when he sang, Here Comes the Sun.)

What I think I'm remembering is how invigorating it felt to be in Bloomington, but this campus really didn't need the movie to make me feel like that. I loved the campus at IUPUI just as much. Being a student, now a bit older than the one I was at IU Kokomo in 1968, and certainly one more serious, was exciting. I hadn't realized the wideness of the world, the unlimited subjects there were to study, and I was amazed at academic abilities I didn't know I possessed. I liked being challenged and knowing myself to be capable.

Now, after nearly 24 years, I still love it here, but the uniqueness of the town and campus has shifted into an easy familiarity. That's nice. But it's much too easy to get lost in the familiar and let opportunity pass by.

So, as another new school year arrives, I'm thinking that it's a good time for all of us to rediscover the excitement of our particular college campus.

As members of this learning community's faculty and staff—and as the product of three IU campuses, I certainly mean all of our campuses—maybe we should all approach this year as if we were freshmen, newly in awe of the opportunities our campuses offer.

I always browse through the new schedule of classes, looking for what I'd like to take—maybe I'll actually register for something this year. The IU Auditorium series looks especially good and there will be scores of concerts, plays, speakers, artsy movies and art exhibits ahead on campuses throughout the state. Maybe I'll forget the wall I need to paint at home and go out. I could do it.

And, afterwards, I'll conveniently forget to count fat grams and calories and set about exploring the quintessential college food: pizza. Who has the best in town these days?