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Your first day on campus as a student might have been many years ago - or not - but we bet you remember it clearly! Tell us a good story about what that first day was like going to classes and getting around campus as a brand new Fish and you'll be entered to win a Belly Buster Certificate (Large 2 Topping, 6 Peproni rolls, and 1 order Cinnamonstyxz).

Call or order online at DOUBLEDAVES.COM
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Yep. Internet and cell phones weren't available to students. We had to use a land line or queue up for picking class schedules, but those damn Pepperoni Pizza rolls with ranch were banging!

The 90s fashion was in full swing, with a mix of grunge, preppy styles, and classic Aggie gear. I saw a lot of flannel shirts, Doc Martens, and of course, maroon and white Aggie apparel. I met new friends in the dorms. The day was filled with excitement, new experiences and a sense of pride in being part of Aggie community.

My first day on campus was in 1973. There was no online. There was only in line. I spent my first day going from line to line trying to figure out how to get my scholarship money so I could pay my bill. I had to pay my bill before I could my schedule. I learned very quickly that the phrase most often said was "hurry up and wait".

My first day on campus was a hot August day in 2005. Got moved in to Aston in the commons and spent most of the day walking around campus. People still said howdy back then. New army has gone to hell.

My first day was in August 1985. I don't remember anything specific other than how much bigger everything seemed compared to my 5A high school.

Coming from Seven Lakes/Cinco Ranch in 2008 was an easy transition

Aggie Therapist said:

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Coming from Seven Lakes/Cinco Ranch in 2008 was an easy transition

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5A used to be the biggest classification. A couple years ago, Brazoswood ( my high school, now 6A) played at Cinco Ranch. I could not help but notice the disparity in the size of the bands and drill teams between the schools. And going to Cinco for parent's night, it was an experience just finding all of my daughter's class rooms.

August 77 - very nice guy kept saying Howdy everytime we met, turned out to be George Woodard.

I remember how hot it was and the walking, the endless, endless walking. I also remember walking into a classroom in Peterson and Professor Simmons talking about how he'd been to Communist China and come away with a computer that (I think) he said filled his home office. I might be mis-remembering where it was, but I do remember thinking it must have been the size of a VW Beetle.

1993 Puryear
Everybody in the dorm was building their lofts. I was putting my box fan into the window looking out onto the quad (ESL) and hoping I would never need to climb down the stairs by our window. The guys downstairs let us run up the cable line through the wall to our 16" TV. I walked to look for th3 nearest laundry room which was by D&G, then went to get some a bite at the MSC. I was a bit home sick as my friends from HS were all scattered around campus or had not arrived yet.

Yep. Parents drove me up from Houston in a 1965 maroon Olds Jetstar 88. I had a green duffle bag of stuff I was told to bring. They walked me up to my assigned dorm, looked for the door that had a green placard that said fish followed by my last name next to another one with someone else's name on it. My Mom hugged me and my Dad shook my hand and said good luck. Shortly thereafter the journey began that still has me in contact with those of my buddies that are still with us.

I went to fish camp summer of 2008.

My fish camp counselor introduced me to my soon to be pisshead as we were leaving camp.

On the first day of FOW, I remember Mr. E saying, "cogitate it was wise for your counselor to introduce you to me fish Therapist?"

Dunn Hall, fall 92. Remember taking TOMDOSS to Kyle field. Quick walks to class to Heldenfels and Harrington. Headed to the game at LSU with my roommate who was from LA. Took forever to get used to the humidity. Tutoring at Mr Bill. And of course bonfire. First generation Ag so everything was a new experience.

Sure do. Fall quarter 1974 Bowling Green State Univ. Checked in 4th Harshman quad dormitories. Harshman Anderson 4th floor. Anderson and Bromfield were guys dorms and Chapman and Dunbar were girls dorms. About a mile or so from Doyt Perry Stadium.

I remember my first day on campus. I remember going to the library to see their collection of sci fi books. I then enjoyed eating in the Commons basement.

Parked by Kyle Field.

1st class was in Zachary. I think I had a class in Nagle and one in Bolton also.

woodyhayes said:

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Sure do. Fall quarter 1974 Bowling Green State Univ. Checked in 4th Harshman quad dormitories. Harshman Anderson 4th floor. Anderson and Bromfield were guys dorms and Chapman and Dunbar were girls dorms. About a mile or so from Doyt Perry Stadium.

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1990 Dunn hall. Had sociology first across campus then chemistry in Heldenfelds then handball in the depths of Deware to finish the day. And about 2 hours ago, I watched my oldest son leave the house to finish moving his stuff down before his first day at A&M tomorrow. Have to admit, had a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat.

agspirit_09 said:

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woodyhayes said:

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Sure do. Fall quarter 1974 Bowling Green State Univ. Checked in 4th Harshman quad dormitories. Harshman Anderson 4th floor. Anderson and Bromfield were guys dorms and Chapman and Dunbar were girls dorms. About a mile or so from Doyt Perry Stadium.

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Now that's funny, but to be fair the OP never said it was exclusive to A&M and Fish is a common term at many colleges for freshmen. fish on the other hand....

First day was in 1969, and I was in Moore Hall.... about as far away from classes as you could get, especially having to walk and carry books. Unfortunately SBISA was close to Moore, which was no benefit.... like the food. Quickly learned at breakfast that you just had to use a lot of ketchup... on everything.

Also, heading across campus near the Century Tree got picked up by a Fish (with Sr. boots close in tow to make sure he did it right) who whipped out to me all the way to my next class. The Fish sneaked up on me from behind and then yelled "Howdy, may name's Fish......" as loud as he could, and scared me to death.

After class I went to the P.O. to get set up with a P.O. Box. And as you guessed, no cell phones, laptops, PCs, or even hand-held calculators (carried a slide rule in a case on my belt) ! Correspondence was by snail mail, and no, I couldn't afford the long distance phone calls. Ah yes, the good ole' days !!!

Of course I was lucky enough to get my Freshman Chemistry lab on Friday afternoons !

It was just me and my mom when I started at A&M and she couldn't afford the gas (~ 19 cents/gallon) or the time (she worked full time as a RN), so when I wanted to go home I had to hitch hike (yes, it was safe back then). Usually got a farmer who would take me up Hwy 6 to the next town or two; rarely did I get a ride from CS all the way to Waco. Was a hot and often long trip home, when I went.

Wouldn't trade my Aggieland experience for the world. Glad to say my son and my granddaughter are Aggies, and my grandson is now "considering" A&M !

Thanks for this post and the memories it brought back ! Gig 'em !

cavjock88 said:

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agspirit_09 said:

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woodyhayes said:

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Sure do. Fall quarter 1974 Bowling Green State Univ. Checked in 4th Harshman quad dormitories. Harshman Anderson 4th floor. Anderson and Bromfield were guys dorms and Chapman and Dunbar were girls dorms. About a mile or so from Doyt Perry Stadium.

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Now that's funny, but to be fair the OP never said it was exclusive to A&M and Fish is a common term at many colleges for freshmen. fish on the other hand....

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Oh and also… BTHO bowling green

I'm pretty sure I wore umbros.

My first day was somewhat unmemorable, but I remember the guy across the hall from me walked through a plate glass window at the bottom of a stairwell.

That's a memorable first day.

First day on campus...wow! September, 1963. My brother (class of '58) had just gotten out of the Air Force and was starting grad school so I met him at the MSC. We got my dorm and outfit assignment (dorm 12, SQDN 13) and he got in my car and we drove over. He showed me a nice, close parking spot that was angle parking. This turned out to be known as Senior Row so it wasn't a great career move. After getting stuff out of the car, he pointed out the convenient end doors which were much closer than the side doors on the other side of the dorm. This turned out to be another less than great career move which was pointed out by some friendly upper classmen that I encountered once inside. After hauling stuff up to my "hole" I joined some other fish in the ritual of "hitting the wall" while we were being educated by the aforementioned upper classmen. What was my brother doing during this time that his little bro' was getting yelled at??? Yup, laughing his butt off while BSing with my new CO (Lou Zaeske) about great Old Army times.

My brother passed away last year and I miss him terribly. And those other guys against the wall......we have a ZOOM meeting every month. There's no place like Aggieland.

Late August 1991. I was in the Corps at the time so I was running around sweating like a pig trying to find my way around. My "suck strap" wasn't really working so my dress shirt kept billowing up like a muffin top and I got reprimanded repeatedly by upperclassman. No PC, laptop or cellphone so I just hauled around notebooks and - get this - real books!

My daughter is just now starting get sophomore year and her existence is wildly different.

She's still complaining about the heat and massive distance between classes, though, like I did!!!

I posted the following 3 years ago on a different board, so if it's not against the rules, I'll just repost it. I'll now 84 in 14 days.

Charlie Wallace
11:18a, 8/24/21

AG


I'll be 81 years old in 9 days, but I remember September 8, 1958, the first day of New Student Week, quite well. I had a 1929 Chevrolet which I had bought for $50 off a used car lot in Garland my junior year in HS, but it was not reliable enough to drive to CS so my Dad drove me down from Dallas that day. 63 years ago you could drive pretty much all over the entire campus and parking wasn't an issue. We drove to the MSC to check me in where I received my outfit assignment, "A" Armor, and Dorm 17 room key. Everything I brought from home was in a single foot locker which we carried into the dorm. The 1st Sgt., Mr. Ken Stufflebeme, sir from Brenham met us at the door, introduced himself, and took me to my "hole." My Dad shook hands with me, told me "Good luck," left and drove on back to Dallas.

The best thing about that first week was that the only upperclassmen present on our stoop of the dorm were Mr. Stufflebeme, sir and senior Mr. Herb Whalen, sir, the CO of "A" Troop Jocks. The following week when the despicable Class of '61 pissheads and other upperclassmen showed up was a different story altogether. But that's for another day.

Charlie Wallace, AMC '62.

I was a cradle Aggie. I came into this world when my class of 1950 dad was finishing his degree at A&M. Seems like I was always counting the days 'til it was my turn. The day finally arrives, and I go through the class registration lines in Sbisa and head over to Happy Happy Herington. I get my room assignment from the FTAB Seargent-Major and my mother asks me who is that tall skinny boy you were talking to. I replied that's Mr. Cisneros from San Antonio. My mother then tells me, I know his mother, I want to talk to him. And then the adventure started.

Later that night, the door flies open and there's one of the seniors dead drunk. That same senior was part of my class of '95 daughter's time at A&M as well. During her time there he would ride around the campus on an oversized tricycle.

cavjock88 said:

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Yep. Parents drove me up from Houston in a 1965 maroon Olds Jetstar 88. I had a green duffle bag of stuff I was told to bring. They walked me up to my assigned dorm, looked for the door that had a green placard that said fish followed by my last name next to another one with someone else's name on it. My Mom hugged me and my Dad shook my hand and said good luck. Shortly thereafter the journey began that still has me in contact with those of my buddies that are still with us.

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Yep. Interesting how NICE and POLITE your 1st Sargent and CO was back then. Seems like we got there on a Wed before class (maybe earlier) and maybe they let the Zips and Butts show up. But the P1$$heads, I don't think they let them show up until right before classes started.
We'd already been accused of being Suck@$$'s but the S-Butts before those P-Heads showed up.

My FISH buddies are my Best Buds for Life. Now many years later, we found out that many in our class were pretty cool too!..

That must have been a lot of fun in the fall of 1970. We score over 40 points against Wichita State then go beat LSU in Baton Rouge. Everybody thought 'Next Year" was here. How'd that work out.

Yeah. It sucked. This guy died that day.

It was surreal. I remember thinking I can't believe I'm actually here going to school. It was like living out a dream.

aggiejim70 said:

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That must have been a lot of fun in the fall of 1970. We score over 40 points against Wichita State then go beat LSU in Baton Rouge. Everybody thought 'Next Year" was here. How'd that work out.

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Hey we WON that 2nd Game. Hugh McElroy caught 1 of Lex James' best passes of his career for the TD in the Waning Moments of the Game.

Followed of course by a Stop by All American Dave Elmendorf in the later Waning Moments of the game to seal the deal.

Nationally Ranked LSU at Home on a Sat Evening went Down. Ags were 2-0.

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Then there is (as Paul Harvey used to say) "The Rest of the Season!"

Not really, because I was 9 (70 now) and was attending a fireman's training school with my dad. - I actually went to class for 2 weeks and was awarded the "Youngest Fireman" award !!!

Totally intimated by its size.