Paraphrasing Tom Hanks from Apollo 13 to describe Mim's continuing dilemma about her best fit for a college. She tried Bryn Athyn College, Berry College & gave the University of Houston a whirl.
What drew her to the University of Houston? No idea. There were several letters to Mom from her days there & she sounded like she appreciated her time there. Guess it just didn't click.
Once again, wishing I'd held onto the letters, which presented such an interesting microcosm of the later '60s. There were requests for good shoes to be sent down & a particularly nice skirt to wear to a concert. Bits & pieces about various professors & classes. Tidbits about Houston, which she seemed to find a little frustrating because it was had to get out beyond the big city to the beckoning countryside.
To the best of my knowledge, she took away two of the things from her brief stint at Houston - her friendship with Prof. Conti, which continued for many years, and a comment made by her roommate, Pam.
It was a major disappointment to Mim that she'd gone all the way to Texas to get a different life experience & ended up with a roommate from New York City. Not just a New Yorker, but one who grew up in a swank apartment on the Upper West Side, right off the Riverside Drive.
But Mim - and I - ended up with a great life lesson, thanks to Pam. Although she'd had an astonishing range of experiences - great schools, great travel, great opportunities - Pam gripped to Mim, "I can't wait to graduate & get out into the real world."
Thanks to Mim & her roommate, I was still in high school & already knew that we ALL yearn to get out into a bigger world, that feeling hemmed in wasn't limited to being raised in a small town.
For years, that was the greatest lesson I took from Mim's short time at the University of Houston!
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