Vassar: My First Love

by Elizabeth "Lisa" Flores, Class of 1982

We are supposed to be writing about our memories. I don’t know where to start (or end).

I became smitten with Vassar when I looked at the college catalog (remember, this was years before the Internet, e-mail, blogs, digital photos, and cell phones). I lived in Guam so there was no opportunity to visit Vassar before actually becoming a student.

Something caught my eye – maybe the pictures of the gorgeous campus or the detailed description of the college courses. Maybe I chose Vassar in part because it was located less than 100 miles from my oldest sister’s home (when the rest of my family would be 10,000 miles away).

I fell in love with Vassar from the moment we drove through Main Gate and a Vassar Greetle said, “Welcome to Vassar!”

I am taking advantage of this website’s suggested questions. Here are my answers:

• Who are the people you most remember? My freshman year roommate (especially when I woke her (a Brooklyn native) up early one Saturday morning because I saw my first snowfall). My student fellow. My freshman English professor. Professors M. Glen Johnson (also my faculty advisor), Wilfred Rumble, Molly Shanley. My fellow dorm mates.
• Memorable quotes from your time here: does anything come to mind? “What’s a co-ed to do?” and “Two linus.”
• What dorm did you live in? Raymond. Anything interesting about it? Freshman year, I lived in the only double on the 5th floor.
• What’s the wildest thing you ever did at Vassar? Actually, the wildest thing I ever did at Vassar happened years after graduating…
• What was your favorite spot (or spots) on campus? Raymond’s TV Room, the Mug, the Library (24 hour room), the Quad.
• What organizations did you belong to, and what was your position? Yearbook Committee, Student Fellow .
• What were some of your favorite classes? My PoliSci classes, Comparative World Views, French, Freshman English. (I do regret never taking Art History.)
• What were some of your favorite local places? Napoli’s Pizza
• What do you think the most important thing you learned/did at Vassar was? I learned to never stop learning.
• Was there any experience at Vassar that changed your world? Making lifelong friends.