Tonight was my Chicago Alumni Board Meeting for Millikin University. I have not attended any meetings during my tenure on the board, which would have made me not much of a board member. Unlike many recent grads, I am still proud of my alma mater and very happy with my college experience. Other than the fact that I have very few college friends now, it was a great place then.
I made it onto the last METRA train that would get me there in time and then wandered around Lombard trying to flag a cab. You can’t flag a cab in the suburbs, nope, not a chance. I called one company and they said 45-60 minutes. I went to a 7-11 and called another cab company who told me 5-20 minutes. Assuming it would be the 20, I called the restaurant and left a message for my party. Jan Devore called me back and sent a Knight in Shining V-6 so pick me up from the corner of St. Charles and Main.
I got there just as the pizza was being served and was very grateful that Josh (okay, he isn’t exactly technically a knight) picked me up. The scene at the Lombard 7-11 is pretty fucking weird and I was feeling a little out of place in my pink shirt (a bunch of goth and punk high school kids making me feel very square.)
At the table were a bunch of people I didn’t know, people older than me and younger than me. Mostly married couples. There was one couple I did recognize, Sara and Kyle. Why? My freshman year, they were seniors and they were (in my eyes) the reason you went to Millikin. They were both super cute, super involved, and dating each other. I distinctly remember being at a UCB ice skating night and watching them with other girls from my dorm. “Sigh,” we all agreed, “I want to be like them when I’m a senior.” Were any of us? No. Mr. and Mrs. Millikin. (I told them that tonight, they were embarassed. Well, I didn’t tell them about the ice skating part. What am I? A stalker?)
As everyone is introduced by their marital status, it seems that Jan would like to see the rest of us get married to, um, the rest of us. That would be me and my aforementioned knight. Maybe I’m just imagining things. But when you are the only two single people sitting at a table of Millikin couples, it’s hard not to feel it.
Anyway, after dinner the agendas got pulled out. What? We actually do things? We don’t just eat pizza on Millikin’s dime? We do lots of things and it looks like we’ll be doing more things. And I didn’t even have to be the whiny one from the city. Turns out people DO understand public transportation can be an issue. I’m heading up (I think) an event for future Chicago Area Alumni in April. I’m pretty excited about it, even though when I was a senior I wouldn’t have been able to go to it–since I was a future colorado alumna.
The drive home was great, cause it was a drive home and not another METRA trip. And because it was with Sara and Kyle. Who, on top of being idolized by me when I was 18, are also pretty fucking cool people. To thank them for their generosity, I took them out for ice cream. Turns out they just live down the road a mile or two.
Now I’m home and am going to have be an RA on my new upstairs neighbors. They just moved in and are hammering something. Grrr
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