My Memories of and Musings on HAC / FBCH

I remember my first day on campus in the Fall of 1976 and being told I was going to be in a dormitory at Balmoral Woods, about 25 miles away. I didn't like it, but I had no choice. That evening we all gathered in the old chapel and Bro. Hyles told us to cut "quit" and "compromise" out of our dictionaries. I also met a great guy from Mobile, Alabama named Don Lee. One of the most likeable guys I ever met.

I envied Don, because like me, he wasn't that much to look at, but he had this great personality that all the girls loved. To this day, I have never been able to duplicate that.
 
Justice1976 said:
I remember my first day on campus in the Fall of 1976 and being told I was going to be in a dormitory at Balmoral Woods, about 25 miles away. I didn't like it, but I had no choice. That evening we all gathered in the old chapel and Bro. Hyles told us to cut "quit" and "compromise" out of our dictionaries. I also met a great guy from Mobile, Alabama named Don Lee. One of the most likeable guys I ever met.

I envied Don, because like me, he wasn't that much to look at, but he had this great personality that all the girls loved. To this day, I have never been able to duplicate that.
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I always wondered why they couldn't find accommodations closer than 25 miles, but that was before my time.
 
Baptist City Holdout said:
I always wondered why they couldn't find accommodations closer than 25 miles, but that was before my time.
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I have never heard anyone state what went into that decision. The accommodations were fine, but the distance was significant. Our most famous (I guess) Balmoral resident, Jack Schaap, joined us mid term in January. I remember his first day.
 
I must admit my first year, I went all HACker, bus ministry and all that stuff. Drank the Kool aid. Wore the badge of honor in January that year by visiting the route while it was 26 below. I have good memories, yes. Even FB friends with a grown up bus kid, but I have so many regrets.
 
Baptist City Holdout said:
I must admit my first year, I went all HACker, bus ministry and all that stuff. Drank the Kool aid. Wore the badge of honor in January that year by visiting the route while it was 26 below. I have good memories, yes. Even FB friends with a grown up bus kid, but I have so many regrets.
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Do tell.
 
Jo said:
Do tell.
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Fortunately it only lasted the first year and a few weeks into the second. During summer break I lost a brother in a car accident. A few Sunday nights/ early Monday mornings into the sophomore year, on the way from night bus, the driver in the car I was in fell asleep and almost lost control.
Never did the night bus again and quickly exited the bus ministry.
 
Jo said:
Do tell.
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We were all young. In time we learned that faithfulness to God could look much different than it did at HAC.

I am tempted to beat myself up over my HAC years. It delayed my life’s work several years, including going back and getting a degree from a state university so I could progress.

But I learned a lot about life in those years and I have forgiven my youthful mistakes. I think it’s called the human condition…to do regrettable things as a young person.
 
Justice1976 said:
But I learned a lot about life in those years and I have forgiven my youthful mistakes. I think it’s called the human condition…to do regrettable things as a young person.
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Holy cow. I'm beating myself up on a daily basis for stupid stuff I did 40 years ago. I have to ask myself, "How long ago was that?" I conclude, I WAS what I WAS. I'm not that anymore."
 
When I arrived at HAC, I did not know a soul. I knew who Gail Merhalski and Elaine Colsten were, but they had never seen me. Before the first chapel service a guy from Pennsylvania sat by me and explained what chapel was like. Never remember seeing him again.
 
Baptist City Holdout said:
When I arrived at HAC, I did not know a soul. I knew who Gail Merhalski and Elaine Colsten were, but they had never seen me. Before the first chapel service a guy from Pennsylvania sat by me and explained what chapel was like. Never remember seeing him again.
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I really didn't know anyone either. I had met one guy, who lived about thirty miles from me. We spoke by phone a couple of times prior to my arrival. He was a year ahead of me and knew the lay of the land at HAC. When I arrived on campus, his parents were off loading all of his stuff and were soon heading back to their home...about a ten hour drive. At that very moment, he and I began a friendship that endures to this day - 49 years later. I spoke to him yesterday and he is one of the dearest people in the world to me. THAT friendship was undoubtedly the best thing that came from the five years I would spend in that place, and I am thankful for it!
 
In August or September 1976, I packed up all I needed for school in a 1971 Plymouth Duster and drove myself 800 miles to HAC. I was barely 18. I can't believe today that I did that. I would not have trusted my sons at 18 to do that. That Duster was indestructible and to this day, one of the most reliable cars I ever owned.
 
Justice1976 said:
In August or September 1976, I packed up all I needed for school in a 1971 Plymouth Duster and drove myself 800 miles to HAC. I was barely 18. I can't believe today that I did that. I would not have trusted my sons at 18 to do that. That Duster was indestructible and to this day, one of the most reliable cars I ever owned.
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Before I went to HAC in the 70s, I attended a nearby university at age 17. When I signed up, they asked what my major was. I had no earthly idea! I was so ill-prepared. HAC made it easy the following year, they had only one major for women - education.

Since our brains are not fully formed until around age 25, I think we could have done far worse.

Honestly, although most of my relatives had college degrees and were involved in education, I wanted to be a wife and mother. I was idealistic and a romantic. In my sixties, I write poetry and flash fiction. I love hearing people's stories and telling my own.

I may have more regrets than many women my age, but they make for good stories:)
 
I remember arriving a few days early for the spring semester in 1990 and Bro. Pfeiffer letting me stay at his house until I could move in the dorms.
 
I remember my first day in the dorms and wishing I were somewhere else. I just got out of the Air Force as an E4 which rated my own room.
I was a buck sergeant, and though still low on the food chain, I was no longer an airman, had more responsibility and was treated with a little more respect.
At college, I was treated like the 18 year olds getting right out of high school.
Besides that, the dorms shook at the least amount of physical disturbance. I was on Prophets 1.
 
Starlifter said:
I remember my first day in the dorms and wishing I were somewhere else. I just got out of the Air Force as an E4 which rated my own room.
I was a buck sergeant, and though still low on the food chain, I was no longer an airman, had more responsibility and was treated with a little more respect.
At college, I was treated like the 18 year olds getting right out of high school.
Besides that, the dorms shook at the least amount of physical disturbance. I was on Prophets 1.
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What year was that?
 
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