Dave's College Stories

College Stories and Photos

As people grow older they sit back and remember college. "the best years of my life" many remember. We never realize it until it is past. Wow...was I thin there... Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA was my home for 4 to 6 years. The extended plan is the best way to get a degree. Freshman year I had the pleasure of living in the greatest dorm on campus, Schlag. Ok, lets rephrase that. Hammerschlag Hall was the dorm that no one picked as their first choice, so it was always filled with those of us who procrastinate and end up sending in our housing selections late. We all worked well together. I met lots of great people through my years at CMU and, as every college student should, I took LOTS of road trips. Spring Break 1995 included three cars, and took 12 people to Tampa, FL. Along the way stopping in Nashville, Disney World and Atlanta, GA. Spring Break 1996 included two cars, and 8 people plus two additions in Orlando. This trip also included stops in Jacksonville and Daytona Beach. Not all of college was parties. I began CMU as an architecture student. I loved architecture, and still do today, but the department was less then enthralled with my work so I moved into the business department where I had much more success.

Everyone who knows me, knows I am rarely uninvolved. I am not the type that enjoys just sitting and relaxing. Student Dormitory Council occupied my freshman through Junior year at CMU. SDC was a great place to meet friends do cool stuff and enjoy more of what college is about. I decided school spirit is when you are willing to go plaid. I painted my car each time SDC attended a conference which I drove to. I went to 9 conferences during my time with SDC and had a great time everywhere I went. Kutztown, VA tech, and University of Kansas were some of the places visited and I met dozens of people at each one. At these conferences individuals create programs to present to other schools. My program, Back to Basics, taught students to remember their carefree youth and not get too stressed out at school. Back to Basics won three awards, two regional and one national.

SDC was also involved heavily with Booth and Buggy. Both of which I was enjoyed participating in as well.

Under the guidance of Steve Badelt, SDC President at the time, I was appointed Booth chair for SDC. This was my first booth creation. Snoopy's head is 18 1/2 feet off the ground and his dog house has two rooms, one in the front for the carnival game and one in back to hold the mechanics and computer. My first attempt won third place in the independent category. I built two more booths for SDC before I left school. My best showing was second place...so close....

Every student at CMU has seen small contraptions shooting down a hill and returning with pushers behind at 6:30 am on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Buggy is one of the oldest traditions at Carnegie Mellon. I got sucked in almost as soon as I arrived. My buggy mentor and still close friend, Bill Vandermark, taught me most everything I know about buggy. He and I worked together to build and maintain SDC's small fleet of torpedo's. We also spent many days looking at small women hoping we could entice them to drive for us. I enjoyed all the aspects of the sport and I will miss it now that I am gone, but I know buggy will continue on and I will be back to watch often.

I enjoyed planning trips and events with my RA so the next year I became an Orientation Counselor. Since I enjoyed Schlag the year before I became a counselor for the same floor that I had lived on. The 1996 OC's were a great bunch and we had lots of fun. My floor also had a great time taking trips all over and planning events. OC's rock!!!

Soon after I came to Carnegie Mellon I figured out I needed a job. Having no money at college just isn't fun. I started working as a cook at Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard was a combination Coffeehouse, mocktail bar, and fast food (usually served really slow) restaurant. I loved working there, and met a lot of great people because of it. Soon I became one of the student managers and then a supervisor. Bands, comedy acts, food and music filled my evenings, again pushing studying further aside. When the University Center was built I made a proposal to put Scotland Yard into the Basement of Morewood Gardens. It was shot down at the time by dining services, but some pushing and the support from Annette Alison kept the dream alive. One of my coworkers at the time continued to pursue the dream of a relaxed environment in the basement of Morewood. I had moved to a supervisor position for all of dining services with the opening of the University Center (I needed the good pay) so everything the basement became should be credited to John and his struggle to revise and realistically produce my idea.