Published: August 19, 2008 10:51 am         

Crashing waves

Stillwater’s population annually ebbs in May and swells in August.

The swell culminates with the first day of class at Oklahoma State University, which was Monday.

For some, Monday represented the first day of hundreds on the path toward a degree.

“(OSU) is big,” said freshman Chris Plura, a Fort Worth native planning to study chemical engineering. “I’ve gotten lost a couple of times.”

Plura and another freshman, Bartlesville’s Britney Richmond, were waiting at the bus station on McFarland Road around 11:45 a.m.

“(The first day) is exciting,” said Richmond, a pre-medicine major. “I’m excited to see my classes, which teachers I need to drop and keep.”

Dropping and keeping teachers was a popular theme Monday.

Preston Pearson is a sophomore or junior (he said he was on the border) in biochemistry and molecular biology. The Marlow native was in a long line to purchase parking passes at the OSU police station just before noon.

“I lucked out and got a really good teacher for my first class,” Pearson said. “I hope the trend keeps going. You hate to have to drop and add, drop and add just to find a good teacher.

“It’s been good so far. Definitely have to get back in the groove of things after a summer that always seems short.”

Outside of the building were a pair of students who were married over the summer.

David and Amy Corter are both from Fletcher. They had grabbed lunch and were killing time before their next classes.

“I was ready to get back this year,” said David, a senior in chemical engineering. “I had an internship so I actually had to work. That made me appreciate school more.”

Amy, a sophomore studying early childhood education, said her first day was “going pretty good.”

A couple hours later, Sand Springs junior Josh Griffin was studying a map inside the Student Union. He is a transfer who previously attended Tulsa Community College and OSU-Tulsa but plans to finish his degree in architecture in Stillwater.

“It is hard to find your way around,” Griffin said. “I’ve asked people quite a few times how to find places.”

Though he was once very familiar with the campus, Jack Sanders was having even more trouble finding his way around Monday.

He was showing his wife, Jeanne, around the campus where he graduated in 1965. Jack actually earned both engineering and technical education degrees and was in the state because his 50th reunion at Lawton High was this weekend.

“I had to ask someone where the Student Union is hidden amongst all these buildings,” Jack said as he headed toward the building.

The couple lives in Marietta, Ga. Jeanne had never been to Stillwater and Jack said he had not been back to campus in 30 years.

The school has grown significantly since he was a member of the Flying Aggies.

Still, the school estimated this year would mark the fourth straight decline in enrollment. The figure last year was 23,005 and the school estimated it would fall to 22,822 this year. Attempts to get a more recent estimate Monday were not successful.

     

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