Thank You for the Music – 53 Years!

There were ashtrays on desks in the classrooms. I taught with chalk in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Students lined up under trees, waiting to register for classes in a trailer house on wheels. In September 1970, there were just 2 permanent buildings on the Essex campus. Some of my courses were in the newly built library or administration building. Most were in prefab rectangular classrooms sitting atop concrete blocks: It was like teaching in an oversized shoebox with a door and windows. Except it was fun. I fell in love with teaching right away.