Finding My Way

The gargoyles atop Altgeld Hall

Unlike some of my friends, I never had any doubt about where I wanted to go to college.Northern Illinois University was far enough away from home to make me feel independent, yet  close enough to jump on a Greyhound for a weekend trip back to the city. By the middle of my high school senior year, I had been  accepted and  was proudly wearing my N.I.U Huskie sweatshirts to class.



That July,along with about 40 other members of the class of 1969,, I attended orientation in Neptune Hall, a large  dorm in the middle of campus. We listened to talks from counselors, sweated  over  our fall class schedules, and wore down our number 2 pencils  taking hours of  placement tests.
Finally, after being treated to a less than spectacular dorm lunch, we were left on our own to roam around the campus. I met up with two high school friends and we walked over to  the Student Union to buy  t-shirts for ourselves and assorted souvenirs  for our families. As we wound our way back to the dorm, one of my friends remarked how easy it would be to get lost.

That fall, my dad drove me and two of my friends to college. Our car was fully loaded, because we all were  moving into the dorms on the same day.  About half way to DeKalb, the car got a flat tire. In order to get to the spare, of course, we had to unload the trunk. We were quite a sight, with three large footlockers and assorted junk piled up by the side of the road. Nevertheless, with all of us pitching in,  and my dad supervising,we got the flat off, the spare tire on , the luggage reloaded, and we were on our way in record time.

When we arrived, the campus was pretty busy, even though   classes didn't  start unil the following Monday.  We found Lincoln Hall,my new home for the coming year, and when I got to my  room., the lower bunk was made, there were books on the shelves, clothes in one closet, but my roommate was nowhere to be found.
I unpacked, put my clothes away, made my bed, stowed the rest of my belongings, and hugged my dad goodbye. He told me to study hard and watch out for "party girls." Um...ok.

After he left, I unpacked my guitar and started to play. In a little while , there was a knock on the door, and a short, slightly built dark haired guy stuck his head in.

 "Hi, I'm Joe, "he said," and I'm looking for Brett, your roommate."
I told him that I hadn't seen him, and stuck out my hand to say hello.
Joe's eyes lit up when he saw what I held in my other hand.
 "Do you mind?" he asked, reaching for my guitar.
 I was curious to hear him play and told him to go ahead.
 Joe began strumming and singing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."
I had a new friend!

We swapped my guitar back and forth for a while, then  Joe said," I live off campus.
We could walk over and get my guitar, maybe get something to eat."
With no plans at all ,and the prospect of spending the rest of the day in an empty dorm, I was happy to go along. I  left a note for Brett, and we started off to Joe's apartment.  It only  took about ten  minutes to get there, and since I had been  most of that way before, I didn't pay too much attention to where we were going.

Not, that is, until we approached the eastern edge of  campus. There was  old Altgeld Hall, looking for all the world like a haunted castle. Joe told me  Altgeld had  been the first building on campus back when Northern was a teacher's college before the turn of the 20th century. The castle was topped with towers and fierce, ugly gargoyles that spouted water when it rained. Joe told me the story about the ghosts of  old students who still  roamed the upper towers. .As we continued walking, I glanced over my shoulder. The gargoyles glared  back as if to say " What, you never saw a gargoyle before?"

Joe's "apartment" was in a home a mile or so off campus. Freshmen who didn't get a dorm assignment were put up in private housing .This house had been subdivided and Joe's tiny  room was actually in the  basement. He had use of  the communal kitchen, dining area and bathroom, and could watch t.v. in a small living room on the first floor. I thought it was kind of quaint, but  really couldn't see living there all year.  Joe was quick to to point out  one major advantage this place had over dorm living.  You could have beer whenever you felt like it. His housemates  had  chipped in and the refrigerator was well stocked. In those days, beer was really inexpensive, so all you needed was someone with an ID to make a run to a liquor store. Looking in the fridge, I saw cases  of Schlitz and Grain Belt, equally tasty and cheap.

Both of us were hungry, so heading to a supermarket in town, we got the makings for hamburgers.
Instead of broiling the burgers, Joe fried them in a skillet. I have to admit that although they were greasy, they turned out really well. With a bottle of cold Grain Belt, potato chips and a pickle, we sat down to  a feast.

Until  late that night,we drank beer, watched t.v., played our guitars, sang folk songs,  told stupid jokes, talked about girls, and speculated about what classes would be like the coming week. Joe laughed when I admitted that I had two classes in Altgeld and cautioned me about the ghosts.
 Eventually, Joe fell asleep on the couch, so I decided to find  my way back to my dorm.

I really thought I knew where I was going, until  I stopped  in front of Altgeld Hall. It was full  dark by then and a  million crickets were chirping, and the cheap beers I had earlier were doing a number on my head.

Looking up, I saw the ugly gargoyles on top of the towers glaring down at me. They seemed to be saying, "Hah!  You're back! Congratulations, Stuart, you are totally lost." And they were right...I was. The campus seemed unfamiliar, and I started to panic. I had no clue how I was going to make it back.

 I  circled the old castle building a few times.  Suddenly, I could clearly see  the lights from the the new high rise dorms in the distance. Putting one tired foot in front of the other, I found my way to Lincoln Hall and my  roommate, Brett, who was patiently sitting on his bunk, waiting for me.

After introducing ourselves, he asked" Where the heck ya been? I was gonna take a shower and warsh my hair"
. Brett was from Peoria, so I was going to have to get used to his downstate twang.

I told him about Joe and how I'd spent the evening.  When I got to the part about Altgeld Hall, he looked at me and said,"Heard that old castle's just plain haunted. I was you, I'd plan on stayin' far away."
Too tired to respond, I climbed up onto my bed and fell asleep listening to the crickets chirping in the late summer night.