Dear Answer Girl,
Why do we work so hard to make a name for ourselves, when in the end all that really matters is that we’re happy?
–Optimistic WorkerFunny you should ask, because I was thinking about that just the other day.
Why was I thinking about that? There’s really no good explanation … but do you know what else I was thinking? Of course not. But I’ll tell you.
There are very few things that really get my goat. Figuratively speaking. Obviously; if I really had a goat, I would protect it fiercely and nothing would ever get it.
Anyway, here is what gets my goat: I was out the other day at an antique store that will remain nameless – it was in Erwin, but that’s no hint because just about everything in Erwin is antique – and I ran across a whole pile of old ETSU yearbooks.
When I say old, I mean “the time period immediately preceding and/or following within two years of my birth.”
Yes, friends, ETSU used to publish a yearbook. And in this yearbook, I saw many smiling, happy faces with bad hair and tacky clothes.
But these fashion misfits were not letting that stand in their way. In fact, they were letting very little stand in their way, bad clothes and all.
In short, the ETSU student body was involved. They were members of organizations, attended football games (yes, even inside the Mini Dome) and stayed on campus for the weekend.
I must allow that a clever photographer may have convinced a small group of about 30 individuals to pose for every picture, thus giving the viewer/purchaser of the yearbook the false idea of widespread student participation on campus.
However, we will bravely stride forward, trusting that such misleading propaganda would never have made its way into our institution’s publications.
Back to the point: students of the late ’70s and early ’80s put our college generation to shame. Not only did they boast strong memberships in almost every Greek letter society currently existing on this campus, but they also formed groups with combinations of Greek letters that I have never even heard of!
Students also turned out for athletic events, club activities and all sorts of campus happenings.
It’s kind of crazy that even this year, as our football team plays its last season, we need fliers on bulletin boards to announce game times and dates to encourage student attendance.
Yeah, I know that we are not UT or Virginia Tech, but do you think they ever have to post the game times in the student center to get the word out? Of course not.
I guess the reason I was so surprised by all this history of student involvement is that I had always assumed that ETSU is a relatively quiet campus because so many of its students are commuters or live within an hour of Johnson City.
Clearly not, though – if they could do it in the late ’70s, then, by golly, we could do it today.
Anybody got any ideas? I mean, don’t send them to me. I’m just here to answer questions. (By the way, the answer to this column’s question is: “How the heck do I know? Go ask your therapist.”)
So the moral of this story is twofold. First, don’t go to Erwin without a clear purpose, and second, get back in touch with those lost ETSU generations by meeting at Terry’s or Bob’s or whoever’s Apex tonight or tomorrow or whenever.
Rumor has it that the Apex was the Johnson City hotspot back in the day, and some of those students are still lingering around in there to prove it.

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