My Favorite OBU Memory

Today I am participating in the 2nd annual OBU BlogAbout. This year is a special year because Ouachita Baptist University is celebrating its 125th birthday!

Last year I posted about many of my OBU memories, so it seems a bit difficult to pick a favorite one this year. I guess looking back over those years, my favorite group of memories centered around dorm life. My freshman year I was pretty homesick and the girls on my floor (1st floor of Flippen!) really supported me, encouraged me, made me laugh and just kept me going. There were only 12 of us - Mandy Bibbs, Angie Erwin, Amy Cray, Kecia Stuart, Dina Teague, Kelly Crow, Susan Bridges, Stephanie Kemp, Sandra Shull, Megan McMillan and Jennifer Easter and myself- and we became a family. We shared many a pizza and cup of hot chocolate as we congregated many nights in each others rooms to discuss life.

My sophomore year I was an RA in Francis Crawford. Mom Chu was our dorm Mom and she kept us in line, for sure! We were her "guhls" and she protected us. Once she even defended me to Walt Keough after I got in trouble for throwing balled up napkins in the cafeteria! I lived on a much bigger floor in Francis Crawford, but was still blessed by friendships - especially with my roommate Kecia Stuart plus girls down the hall like Karen Crouch, Shannon Woodfield, Kim Herndon, Molly Mitchell, and Peggy Tackett.

My junior and senior year I was blessed to live in O.C. Bailey which, at that time was, in my opinion, the best dorm on campus. It had recently been refurbished and was bright, clean and smelled good (up until someone poured deer scent on the carpet on our floor as a nice little prank!). Kecia and I lived on the third floor on the side closest to Conger. Many memories were made on that floor! Sharing a bathroom was not even a big deal because everyone was pretty easy to live with. By this time our classes and schedules were more demanding so we actually spent less time in the dorm, but the time that was spent there was fun. Conversations became more intense as we talked about future marriage (some of us were engaged), careers, job opportunities, places to live, family issues, boyfriend problems, death, birth, decision making and love.

Just a little over two weeks ago we helped move our oldest son into the freshman boys dorm at OBU (which, oddly enough is Flippen-Perrin!). Before he moved in I spent a lot of time telling him about how much fun dorm life can be because that's what it was like for me. I pray that he meets as many wonderful people as I did and makes as many great memories that will warm his heart for years to come.