Days gone by...

This weekend I went back to my undergraduate school for homecoming and the 25th anniversary of the campus chapter of Mr. MR's fraternity (He's a Kappa) . Honestly, I was a little ambivalent about going and I wasn't sure why. SPOILER ALERT!! It has been 19 years since I left college and I guess I was unsure of how I was going to feel smack dab back in the middle of a place that had a role in shaping the person that I think I am today. I also think it had something to do with feeling "older". When I think about the yrs. I spent there I think of myself as I was then, but returning means I have to create a new vision of myself in that environment and that vision is not 19 anymore. I also think I wanted to hold on to that feeling of the campus and the community "belonging" to me, I didn't want to see it as a visitor. I took a 16 yr. old family friend with me and trying to show her around, proved that I was as much a visitor as she was. I can't tell you how many times I said, "that building wasn't here when I was a student" or "This is a brand new space" or better yet "I can't remember blah, blah, blah... Let's just call the experience sobering. What I did realize with fondness is that I loved that time of my life, all of it, the school, the experiences, the friends, the ups and downs-the whole thing. After talking to many of the people there I also realized that being in college in the 80's rocked. The music was good, we had the best of hip hop, reggae and r&b. We had great dances, remember the wop, charlie brown and the prep. Our hair was did with high top fades, slopes, zig-zag parts and asymmetrical cuts. We had shoulder pads, Reebok's, shell toes, Le Tigre and Izod. We had The Cosby Show and A Different World. We fought for divestment from South Africa and Mandela's freedom. We achieved in spite of Reaganomics and the growing conservative movement. It was an amazing period to grow into adulthood and I'm thankful for those times and I miss how they made me feel. I'm good with who I am and how I've turned out, but it was good to go back for a few days. Love to all my 80's peeps!!!