In the wake of the college admissions scandal, I found myself reminiscing about my undergraduate alma mater. I graduated from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio in the spring of 1994 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in history. Let’s take a stroll back in time for a look at Raider life in the early days, shall we?
Wright State was founded in 1967, at a time when modernist architecture was still in vogue. My first impression of the school was a bunch of Bauhaus style brick buildings plunked in the middle of a gigantic field. There were very few trees (okay, almost none), and the parking situation consisted mostly of shuttles from the sea of gravel on the far side of the campus known as K-Lot. For me, it did not resemble the sun-dappled, Gothic and Greek Revival architecture of Ivy League college campuses in the movies. The first time I drove onto the campus, I immediately felt like I was in a prison. I mean no offense and I’m sorry to admit it, but it’s true. (That might’ve had been because I just graduated from high school and there I was back in school just a short time later!)
Shout out to the WSU library website for this throw back picture of the quad and surrounding buildings in the early days.
While my first impression of WSU was a little rough, I have to tell you that it grew on me fast. First of all, college life was way better than high school! Second, when I got my first tuition bill, I was over the moon. WSU was based on the quarter system and I was able to cover almost the entire first bill with my financial aid (consisting of the Pell Grant and the Ohio Instructional Grant, which I am still profoundly grateful for). I think I needed a mere $150 for books, that first quarter. For me, that was still a stretch at the time, but luckily I was able to cover it with my waitressing income. It’s a testament to the value of a degree from WSU that I was able to graduate with no student loan debt, no credit card debt and having paid my car off, then go on to succeed in law school (where I accumulated a bunch of student loan debt). Learn more about beating student loan debt by clicking here.
My affordable tuition could be credited to a lot of things. Not the least of which being the low overhead of the school. It was designed to cater to nearby Wright Patterson Air Force Base and their research needs so, it was a commuter school. It attracted non-traditional students who didn’t need to live on campus or access to a lot of “amenities” like state of the art gyms, restaurants and the like. This worked out well for me because I could’ve cared less about going to the gym and I could save money by living at home. Yep, I was totally cool with that!
I also had an excellent slate of professors at WSU. I feel like I did well in college (quite a few quarters on the Dean’s List, thank you very much), due in large part to the quality of the faculty. I still remember most of them and how much I really enjoyed their classes. In fact, I enjoyed them so much that in my senior year, my advisor told me I had taken too many history classes to graduate. He told me I needed to take something other than history during my last year or, I’d be stuck in school for at least another quarter. That would have been fine with me, but I had to get on with life, eventually.
Finally, one of the things I grew to love the most about WSU was the tunnel system. While the campus may not have been worthy of the Ivy League issue of Architectural Digest, whoever built it made an excellent decision when they connected every building with underground tunnels. I grew to appreciate the tunnels that first year when the Ohio winter hit hard and fast. Once you got into a building, you could stay inside no matter where on campus your next class was. They lined the tunnels with lockers you could rent, too. You could stuff your giant parka in the locker and be good to go until you were done with the day. It really didn’t get any better than that. I mean, who needs ivy and marble columns when you could stay warm and dry on your way around the quad in the middle of an Ohio ice storm? Ah, those were the days!
Shout out to the WSU newsroom for the picture of the tunnels.
At the time, I didn’t realize how much I would grow to appreciate everything WSU had to offer. As I look back on it, I’m so grateful I landed at such a good school that continues to turn out excellent graduates (with reasonable tuition to boot). They have a pretty good basketball team, too!
Thanks for everything WSU. I will always be true to my school and the great experience I had there.
Signed,
The Dollar Lama (Proud Raider for life!)
P.S. Make sure you check out my online courses, books and resources, too! Investing in your money management education is an investment in yourself. That’s the best investment you’ll ever make, I guarantee it! Don’t forget my weekly Facebook live videos on Facebook.com/newcashview, Instagram @joyalfordbrand and on my YouTube channel NCVTV. You can catch me twice, on Mondays between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. for my Monday Money Management Minute and Thursday evenings between 7:00 and 9:00 (Eastern Standard time), for my weekly NCVTV episode. They are packed full of useful and entertaining money management information! If you’ve missed any NCVTV episodes, you can see the latest on newcashview.com or you can check out my YouTube channel and get caught up! You can get there by clicking here. Remember, like and share the NCVTV videos on Facebook and all your social media platforms, so others can benefit from them, too!
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