A Trip Back in Time

August 6 - 7, 2004

It was an incredible journey the UT Martin Gang took August 6 - 7, 2004, and we want to thank Bunny (a.k.a. Lynn Howell King) and Charley Deal, Director of Alumni Relations, from the bottom of our hearts for the work they did in coordinating this event. We never imagined going to where it all started would give us such an experience. Who says you can never go back?

The excitement started to build from the first email describing Charley's offer to allow our group to spend a night on campus in a dorm room. The number of emails this trip generated was amazing. No matter how often you would answer the emails about this trip you could sign off and sign back on an hour later only to find a dozen more emails!

You would have thought we were planning our first day of college, but this was even better. For the first time around college life was a bit scary. Some of us arrived on campus not knowing who our roommate would be or what to expect. This time "the gang", as we like to describe ourselves, was going back and we were ready. Nine of our gang made arrangements to attend the reunion from as far away as Atlanta, an excellent turnout!

Friday evening all the elements of our trip came together. Unseasonably cool weather contributed to the feeling that this was not the summer of 2004 but the fall of 1969. At first both the city of Martin and the UT campus seemed a bit unfamiliar. Thirty five years of progress has produced more roads, more businesses, more everything. Some of our favorite haunts are gone or significantly changed (the T-Room, a Chinese restaurant?). Thanks to cell phones we found our way!

Walking into Browning Hall felt awkward (almost like that first day) as the lobby is set up a little bit different from McCord Hall. We received room keys from the resident agents (are they old enough to be working?) and went in search of our rooms. Three flights of stairs gave us one of our first reality checks! Thirty five years ago we did not think twice about bounding up flights of stairs with arms full of clothes and books. Friday night we did fine hauling our luggage up 3 flights of stairs but must admit that our "bounding" has changed to "a steady climb".

That awkward feeling vanished, however, when we opened the stair well door and walked onto the third floor of Browning Hall. It was like stepping through a portal back in time. The layout of the rooms, the shared baths, the halls, the beds, everything triggered memories of days gone by. We were 18 year old girls again giggling and running in and out of each others rooms. We stayed up for hours Friday night reminiscing about how we met and our days at UT Martin. We even had the opportunity to yell, "man in the hall", Saturday morning when a male resident agent made a floor check!

Saturday morning the surreal visit continued when we met Charley Deal for a lovely breakfast reception and tour of the campus. The breakfast reception made us feel so glamorous! Charley was a gracious host patiently listening to our stories and looking at our photo album of 36 years of memories. More than once Charley took the time to take a photo of our group with each attendee's camera!

Some of the highlights of the tour include a visit to Clement Hall where two of us shared a basement room our freshman year. It was in that basement room that we held our first annual Christmas party in 1969. This year we will celebrate our 36th Christmas together. Who would have thought the party would continue so many years later?

Other highlights include the cafeteria (where Bunny met Sid) and finding a photo of a 70's classroom and recognizing our friend, Claudia Ann Martin and her future husband, Don Tucker, in the photo! Of all the pictures taken over the years at UT Martin it is mind boggling that one of our "gang" was captured in a photo that thirty years later would be selected as a representative of campus life in the 70's! Charley, if you are still at UT Martin when they change the decor in that hall, I'm sure Claudia and Don Tucker would love to have that photo!

Of course, the greatest highlight of the tour was our visit to McCord Hall. It was there we spent most of our time together. The memories were both joyful and bitter sweet. When we visited the room of our friend, Vivian Kennedy Mills, who died August 29, 1998, tears of sadness fell but we also found laughter as memories of good times we shared with Vivian came to mind. We closed our eyes and the years melted away. We looked for physical reminders of days gone by and we were not disappointed with our visit to the UT Martin campus.

We often think about why our group stayed in touch with each other for so many years. We did not have common beginnings. We came from many different places and arrived at UT Martin looking forward to the future but uncertain as to what to expect. Some of us stayed at UT Martin for only one quarter and others stayed to graduation. After college our lives took many different paths but each year around mid-November we would watch the mail for a card announcing the date of the annual UTM Christmas party. Receiving that card was a link to carefree days of youth and a reminder that there were friends in your life who cared about you. It was a lifeline even if you could not attend because it made you feel connected. Pamela Merritt and Lynn Howell King kept the tradition going year after year and rightly carry the title of the "Glue Sisters" in our gang.

Email enhanced our ability to stay in touch and now we rarely go a day without communicating. The older we get the more we realize how blessed we are by our friendship. We turn to each other for support, for a shoulder to lean on, for prayer, for friendship, and for guidance. We are each others sounding boards, someone who will listen, and someone who cares. We celebrate the good times and support each other during the bad times.

To the young people considering the University of Tennessee at Martin we say, "Go for it!" The advantage of a smaller campus is it is easier to develop friendships like our group. When you are 18 years old being 50 years old seems a century away. Do you ever remember thinking it was going to take a long time to graduate from high school and then at graduation thinking the years went by quickly? Trust us; the years from 18 to 50 go by even faster!

We encourage young men and women to take the time from their studies to bond with others. You can learn skills to support yourself in the classroom, but only you can give of yourself in such a way that you form friendships. Friendships and shared memories are vital components of a full and happy life. It is also our belief that the best communication skills are learned outside the classroom. Life on campus learning to live with people who come from different places than you is one of the best ways to learn the communication skills you need to do well in life.

We also urge the UT Martin staff to continue their efforts to schedule activities for young students. Money spent to provide activities is money well spent. Some first time college students think only about fun. On campus activities give the border line student a reason to put forth just enough effort to stay in school buying a couple of years for the student to mature.

In closing we again want to extend a special word of thanks to Charley Deal for giving our group the opportunity to go back in time, to relive our youth, to rekindle our bonds of friendship, to remember friends who have gone ahead, and to recommit to creating future shared memories.

U T MARTIN FOREVER!
Members of the UT Martin Gang:
Pamela Kay Merritt
Lynn (Bunny) Howell King
Charlotte Ann Morris Roberts
Deborah Jean Wright Cunningham
Margaret Belle Climer Whiticker
Marjorie Rose Clark Day
Barbara Ann Pitcock White
Sharon Anne Word Conley
Claudia Ann Martin Tucker
Martha Beverly Joyner Wallin
Cathy Ann Lewis
Jonalee Dildy Powers