I was so excited to be here, and I thought
it was so beautiful. You can't ever stop looking
at the beauty of this place.
Liberal arts classes, the lectures that they had,
in the lecture hall, you were seated alphabetically.
My last name is Peterson, and my spouse's
last name was Petric. It just happened that
she ended up sitting right next to me. She
didn't like it too much because she took really
good notes, and I didn't take very good notes.
So I would implore her to share some of her
notes with me.
The ceremonies were very romantic. It was
up at the manor, and we were upstairs, over
on the balcony, and the guys in the fraternity
was down here. And you would serenade each
other, and then you would come down to get
hugged and kissed. But it was very romantic.
We had a great choir director. The choir was
great because it was an attempt to blend every
section of the choir into one single voice.
The music it produced was stunning.
They used to do rally squads and stuff would
do a thing where you would go right down Broadway,
in downtown Portland, and would promote a
game. We had the band, and the rally squad
would be in the convertibles, and would make
noise and draw attention to people on the
streets. They would do it if there was a game
Saturday, they'd be out there Friday night.
We had an individual on campus, who was kind
of a track star. He never walked. He ran.
He ran from class. Never walked. He just ran.
And everybody used to make fun, "Oh here he
comes again. Look out."
Lewis and Clark to me, being in this environment
here, being away from Portland and this little
mixup here, I really felt as if I was protected.
Strange to say, but I felt like I was protected
from the world, being here at Lewis and Clark.
It a very prideful thing when someone says,
"Where did you go to school?" and you say
"Lewis and Clark." It's the same thing as
when you say "I play in the Oregon symphony,"
they go "Oooh." But seriously, it's a prestigious
place, and feel like I was honored to be able
to come here, and I wanted to do my best.
There were some wonderful people I will remember
all my life, that helped me just go from one
part of my life to another. I am eternally
grateful.
I'd describe Lewis and Clark's influence on
me as this, I think I found myself here. When
I was in high school I didn't much like myself.
I would look at a mirror in the morning, and
I could think of a hundred other kids that
I would rather be than me. By the time I got
out of Lewis and Clark College, and ever since,
I can look in the mirror and say "There's
nobody in the world that I'd rather be than
me."
