Re-Living those Radford Days

Although I had been to my alma mater Radford University about five years ago, it has been more than ten years since I visited there with friends.  Physical places hold a lot of memories for each of us, but it is the people we care about who add depth to those memories.  So it was this past Homecoming weekend that brought it all back to life.

My best friend Marcus and I made the five-hour drive on October 13th from Portsmouth, Virginia to Radford.  Around the Charlottesville area, the weather brought heavy fog and rain though our spirits were far from dampered.  We passed a town called Crozet in the heart of the mountains that would always make us laugh years ago traveling back and forth during breaks.  As it happens, we have an inside joke where in our best stereotypical Asian accents we exclaim, "Mountain in Crozet!"  I really can't explain the meaning behind this joke but I break down in hysterics thinking about it.

Radford has changed a lot in the past ten years.  There's the new Hurlburt Student Center nicknamed "The Bonnie" after the former Dean of Students Bonnie Hurlburt.  It's a marvelous facility that frankly makes me a little jealous of the students!  A genuine Starbucks is located there... oh, how I would have spent my meal plan dollars at that location.  The Bonnie is directly in front of Trinkle Hall, where I lived my sophomore and junior years.

Trinkle Hall has been completely renovated, and one of the first things Marcus and I noticed was a wheelchair ramp at the entrance of the building.  He and I pushed hard against the administration to build such a ramp around 1998 but of course we didn't know the ADA laws then which state such accomodations aren't necessary until the building is renovated.  Still, we were pretty happy to see one of our dreams was realized.

Moffett Hall, the second largest residence hall on campus, is presently under renovation.  Behind Moffett, there's a behemoth building under construction for the College of Business.  Several streets have been replaced with grass and plazas.  The new Covington Center, also near Trinkle, features an art gallery and performance hall.  And as one female faculty member put it to me and Marcus, the new university president has been "a womanly touch" to the campus by adding plenty of flowers to the landscaping.

It was also great to see some familiar sights - for example, I often frequented the theatre in Porterfield Hall where many of my friends performed in plays.  As Trinkle Hall primarily housed visual and performing arts students, those students tended to be my friends (and honestly, those who dedicate themselves to the arts tend to be my best friends).  I took a few photos of the theater where a play called "God of Carnage" is presently being put on.



Porterfield Hall theatre, from the back row

View from the stage in Porterfield Hall

Of course, the best part about coming back to Radford was seeing three of my friends who I hadn't seen in what seems like forever.  We had such a wonderful time catching up.  Even though we've stayed in touch on Facebook, seeing each other face-to-face was a vastly cool experience.  We had lunch at Macado's, a staple of the Radford off-campus dining experience.  We trekked around the campus, reliving memories.  Muse Hall, my home my freshman year, unfortunately has been treated unkindly the last few years and definitely needs a facelift.  But we reminisced happily at Trinkle Hall the most; we snuck into the building, violating the guest policy in the process... here I was, an RD, breaking the rules!  But we got to walk to my old room where Marcus, my former roommate, lived.  Though the doors and hallways were in nice new shape, they kept the room numbers the same, which was great.  In the basement, they've converted some of spaces.  The best space downstairs was where Marcus and I had put on a swing dance our sophomore (or was it junior?) year for all of the Trinkle Hall residents.  That was probably our program we were most proud of.  And who doesn't love swing dancing to such great music like the Brian Setzer Orchestra?



Where we had our swing dance years ago...

 

Marcus and I in front of our old room



Angela showing off one of her old rooms!

View of the campus from the top of Muse Hall

There are plenty more photos that I've taken that are on my Facebook profile, so I didn't feel like I needed to post all of them here on this blog post.  But certainly we've got to have a group photo!

Erika, myself, Angela, and Marcus in the Governors' Quad

Visiting Radford again reminded me how much of an impact it had on my life.  I certainly would not be the person I am today if I didn't have such an amazing experience there.  I'm extraordinarily thankful for the friends I made, the leadership skills I developed, and the education I received. 

During our senior year, Marcus and I had put together a two-CD set of music that marked significant memories.  We called them, somewhat unoriginally, "The Final CDs."  Marcus and I vowed for this Homecoming trip to compile another CD of songs that didn't make the cut back then or were new to our experiences in our friendship since graduating from Radford.  So on the drive to and from Radford, we succeeded in making a list.  Music has always seemed to me to be one of the best ways to honor and relive our memories.  And as I write this blog, I've been listening to the songs from the final draft playlist.

So I figure it's poignant to end this blog with a video of the Brian Setzer Orchestra playing one of their cool cat songs "Let's Live It Up."  Because we really did live it up back then, and for a beautiful fall October weekend in 2011, we lived it up again.