Being the overly eager RA I looked forward to meeting the new students during the summer orientations. Before I met any of them I met a mother who spoke with a slow-drawn accent that could easily be confused with Lousiana. She said emphatically, "M-y s-o-n is comin' to Coe to major in futball and minor in rassling."
In my three years as an RA it was very easy to pick out the one-term one-year wonders. (No matter how badly any student performed in the first semester Coe would almost always give them a second chance for the spring.) After a while I was concerned of the ethics of the admissions department. Go to Iowa with the plan to be pre-med and you're told you'll have to get accepted into the program after you prove yourself with grades. At Coe you're told, "Major in Biology. If you're accepted to the college you're guaranteed in the program. Many of our biology graduates have gone on to be doctors..." That's true, but telling that to a kid with a 17 ACT is disingenuous at best, but more accurately it's deceitful.
In the case of the kid above, Lonnie reminded me that the "futball major" was a presidential scholar. A fact that my love for my alma mater had allowed me to repress. I do remember he lasted less than two years.
That ticks me off that he was a presidential scholar. I was not - I got a Fall Scholarship and then was told I could not compete for the Presidential Scholarship or the Theater Scholarship (I forget the name of it) because I had a Fall Scholarship. Which I don't think was true - and the Fall Scholarship was less than both of the others, I believe. I had forgotten all about that until your post - thanks for dragging up that hidden resentment Steve! :)
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