“Well, I think I’ve got everything.  Clothes, TV, books, paper.” I said.

“OK, well, call us when you get there.” Dad said.

“Well, don’t know that I’ll have a phone working for a couple of days.”

“OK, well, find a phone if you have problems, otherwise, we’ll see you next week.”

I hugged Mom and I walked out the door.  Off to college.

My little Pontiac had almost everything that I owned.  A couple of pair of jeans, a couple of shirts, a pillow, a towel, a set of sheets, a TV, and a mini-fridge that I had inherited from my older brothers, and finally book or two to keep me company.

I was off to face the world.

It wasn’t that long of a drive as I started my freshman year at North Dakota State University fourteen years ago.  It was really only about 70 miles, but it could have been 70 light years away in my mind.

This was it.  This would determine if I was going to sink or swim in this world. 

I was going forth into the world

I was terrified.

What if I failed my classes?  What if I couldn’t handle the acedemics?  What if I turned out to me a complete doorknob and nobody liked me?  What if I couldn’t cope in the real world?  What if ran with the wrong crowd?  What happened if I got caught doing something that I knew I shouldn’t be doing and got kicked out of school…all though I really didn’t know what that thing that I would be caught doing would be but fully realized that while it may be fun but probably not worth it in the end…

Whew.

I knew I was going to have to take this in stages.

First, must find Fargo.  I had taken my mother to the hospital several times so that wasn’t difficult.

Second, must find my dorm.  A campus tour and oreintation earlier in the year helped get me to the right side of campus.  From their it was just looking for the Reed-Johnson cell block…er….dorm on the north side of campus.  A trip or two around campus and I found it.

Third, find dorm room.  A quick trip to the front desk, show some ID and the slip that said I would be rooming in Reed Hall and two keys were handed over - one for the dorm, one for the front door.  Up one flight of stairs, a quick left and a quick right, three doors down and there I was.

The dorm room was already furnished.  A metal desk.  A metal desk chair.  A metal bed frame.  A mattress.  A dresser built into the closet.

Luckily there was never a scrap drive outside of the Reed Johnson cell block or the dorm rooms would have been empty.

Finally it was just a matter of moving things in.  One trip for the TV.  One trip for the refriderator. One trip for all of my personal belongings.

Success.  I was officailly a college student.  My life was in order.  The planets aligned.  My schedule was set.  And all things were calm and orderly and in place.

I breathed the first sigh of relief all day.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Dud!  I’m your new roomate!  This is awesome!  These are my folks!  This is the first cart with all of my stuff!  Is this all the room we have?  Are you going to use all of your closet space? Mind if I put some stuff in your fridge?  Mind if my girlfriend stays for a bit?  You smoke?  Pot?”

Oh boy.