Pet Rocks and Mood Rings, Talking Viewmaster and Simon (for our younger brothers and sisters, of course). Girls making our bellbottoms bigger by adding more fabric from the knees down. Guys wearing oversized army jackets and workboots. Walking everywhere around Elmira (or traveling with your banana seat Sting Ray bikes). Skating at Joycrest. Buying jeans at Harold's and then People's Place. Hanging out in The Record Shop on Water Street or the Arnot Mall (where J.C. Penney's was THE place to shop). Grabbing Saturday lunch at Pudgies, The Red Barn, Snoopy's Dog House or ???. Having to be home (or at a friend's) by 8 on Friday nights to watch the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family.
Movies: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Barefoot Executive (oooh, Kurt Russell), Dirty Harry, Fiddler on the Roof, Willard, Love Story (I remember sitting in a theater with eight other girls, all crying our eyes out at the end--our first real "chick flick").
Music: The Who - Who's Next (listened to that ALOT at basement sleepovers), James Taylor - Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, Carole King's Tapestry. You know who sang these: American Pie, Imagine, Shaft, What's Goin' On. And you may still have collections by these artists: Three Dog Night, Paul McCartney and Wings, The Doors, Rolling Stones, Poco, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Chicago, etc., etc. (Way too many to mention!)
Here comes September: us moving nervously through the great halls of ND. Fiddling with new locker combinations, trying to look cool and collected but terrified inside (especially those with last names beginning with M whose lockers were located right outside Sister Carmella's science lab)!
Meeting all the former competitors from our grade school CYO leagues and blending as one group, stronger than each of its single parish parts. I sat between Tony Lisano (sp?--St. Mary's) and Robin Neu (sp?--Sts. Peter and Paul's) in homeroom and began most days with lots of laughing and talking. I fondly remember "Dude" (Dennis Walsh--OLL) forever getting in fights over chewing gum with Sister ??? in Social Studies class--she was easily distracted and Dennis would waste tons of time trying to "reason" with her while the rest of us held in the giggles as best we could. Using those dangerous bunsen burners in IPS with Mr. Hartman(??)--can't believe we (and the buiding) survived. I believe my lab partners were Denise Sloan, Matt Smith and Paul McMahon. Hoping to go unnoticed by those big, mean upperclassmen in the cafeteria. Aaah, and who could forget that first experience with cafeteria food (vs. pizza day and hot dog day in grade school).
What do you remember most about FRESHMAN YEAR at Notre Dame?
