Off to the “big time”! Huge campus. The level of “higher learning” at the University of Florida (UF); the campus had it all: engineering, medical, law, etc., and of course all of the other collegiate insanity like booze, college sports, frats, and sororities. Academically I was cocky after graduating with honors from TCC (junior college) and I thought UF would be a breeze – I was overwhelmed on the first semester. I also thought that my hands-on navy experience would be sought after by future employers. I later learned that what mattered was your GPA (grade point average).
El & I got an apartment about a mile and a half from campus. We only had the one car so it was ‘luck’ that the apartment complex had a deal that if you signed a year’s lease you either got a free ten speed bike or a color TV. We opted for the bike and that became my means of transportation to class (rain or shine), since El would be getting a job and would need the car. Besides, parking required parking permits, so it just made more economical sense to bike. Biking also had the fringe benefit of getting my legs in marvelous shape which was a plus for being 29 and surrounded by ‘fellow students’ that were easily 8 years younger.
College classes kept me real busy (thankfully) and El landed a job with an endodontist which kept her occupied. I was still in the navy reserve, but was no longer able to do my weekend warrior thing in town like I did in Tallahassee. It was back to where I went for active duty (back in the aircraft carrier) days; “good old Mayport,” which turned into an overnighter since it was a 2 hour trip one way. Unfortunately that paved the way for partying and going to establishments that specialized in scantily clad women. Speaking of women, at UF there were plenty of female bicyclists sporting the latest fashion; i.e., dolphin shorts that seemed to be just half a size too small for their derrieres.
The low point of my time in Gainesville was centered on an evening in Mayport at the midpoint of my two week active duty stint for the reserves. This guy that I rode with asked me if I would participate in making his girl friend’s fantasy come true – sex with two guys at the same time. The added bizarre factor is that she had muscular dystrophy; so “of course” I said yes. I will not give a graphical account of the encounter; suffice it to say that it happened which was disturbing. Even more disturbing was my ability to take what had happened and put it away in a mental shoe box which allowed me to continue my married relationship with El as if nothing had ever happened. Later in life I was astounded to discover how many virtual shoe boxes I had and the crap I kept in them.
The remainder of time in gator country was consumed with pursuing my degree, doing whatever El & I did in those days (I have no recollection), and fantasizing over the female student population at Florida. Oh, and I can’t leave out watching the “20 Minute Work-Out” videos on TV when El was at work and I was home between classes. The video usually had 3 shapely women on a large turntable in various forms of aerobics which generally resulted them bent over in a variety of poses -accentuated with their work-out leotards; I imagine you have some mental picture.
Three years of UF came and almost went just as fast. My last semester was filled with finishing up classes to graduate and hitting the career center with the goal of an interview, “plant trip,” and ultimate job offer. This is when I learned that GPA was king; forget previous experience and replace it with your entry level salary to be proportional to your perceived ability as indicated by you’re GPA. Yes…I’m ranting about GPA because I had to repeat a few classes and eat the C or D from my first attempt (UF engineering core classes usually carried a minimum B to ‘pass’).
I was contacted by my old alma mater (USN) and they’d love to take me back as an officer (previous enlisted experience did count), and I could pick up a master’s degree too. It would just cost me another 3 years at sea to earn “surface warfare pin,” then the remainder of my career would be on-shore as an engineering duty officer. El was not too keen on that; she had had enough of the navy. Finally I took an offer with a commercial shipyard in Newport News, VA.
On to Yard Bird.
Or go back to Reflections – TCC.
On to Yard Bird.
Or back to the previous blog TCC Land.
babychristian55 