Abilene Christian College - Prickly Pear Yearbook (Abilene, TX)

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I- STUDENT LIFE

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4 10 28 46 50 58 82 94 124 148 172 182 194 198 216 228 238 “I’ll never forget the day I left home. My dad shook my hand and squeezed my shoulders; tears filled his eyes and he couldn’t say anything. He drove off and as I boarded the train 1 knew he was crying. I sat there as we pulled out of the station and cried like a child because somehow I knew I was leaving and would never live at home again. I returned during the summers while I was in college and I’ve blown through for short visits when we said hello to each other, but I’ve never really gone back until last summer. Long before I reached the old farm, things began to look wrong. Gravel roads had been replaced and many of the old familiar landmarks had vanished. The old house was in ruins. Standing there in the yard surrounded by weeds was a devasting experience. Blank gaping windows seemed to mock me with empty whispers of the laughter that used to be ... of the simple love that made us one ... of the home that would never be again. For even if the buildings had not decayed it would still have been impossible to go home again. 246 258 272 292 302 314 “Home is no longer a place. It is a spirit, a mem- ory, an experience ...” Every fall young men and women put behind them the secure familiarity of home, never to return again. Destined for a place far from the home they love, they enter the confusion of the college campus.

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Registration: Fragments of a New Experience Are you my roommate? Why don't we stay up all night and unpack?” Homesick? Well ... maybe ...” Meet in Walling Lecture Hall at 8:00.” “Fill out these forms. Major ... minor ... classification. “Make out a schedule. Stand in line and sign up.” Go back and get a P.E. class. “Get a mailbox. “Want a meal ticket?” “What’s your name? Your number? Want a date?” “Another line!” “How do you write a check for $1,248.79? Now all I have to do is wait in line at the bookstore. Then finally, registration was over.