Degree in liberal arts? You want fries with that?

As you probably know, I attended 4 colleges in my post-secondary career. Primarily in my quest to play college basketball--which I did. But that aside, I decided it might be fun to compare the different aspects of each, once and for all. Just kind of compiling my various favorites at each place.

Pittsburg State University: NCAA Div. II--Pittsburg, KS (Fall 2003)

Mascot: Gorillas
Where I played ball: The Weede Gymnasium--on PSU campus, Pittsburg YMCA
Best basketball moment: Dominating 3-on3 intramurals with Justin, Cortney, and Eric.
Best teacher: Chuck Killingsworth. He only "taught" my Freshman Experience class, but he's the only guy whose name I remember, and was a pretty cool guy.
Best friend: Justin Rogers
Crushes: Krystine Foster, Laura Garrison

McPherson College: NAIA--McPherson, KS (Spring/Fall 2004)
Mascot: Bulldogs
Where I played ball: Sports Center--on MC campus.
Best basketball moment: Getting the chance to play for Coach Trimmell--even if just in practice. Scoring 56 points in an intramural game was pretty neat, too.
Best teacher: Whoever taught my biology class. Female, maybe in her late-30s or so. She was pregnant during one of my two semesters there (for anyone reading this who may know who I'm talking about). She was real cool, and actually got me semi-interested in science--which I never thought possible. Wish I could remember her name...
Best friend: Justin Bacon
Crush: Sarah Story

Kansas Wesleyan University: NAIA--Salina, KS (Spring 2005)

Mascot: Coyotes
Where I played ball: St. John's Military School--I played there with some football guys on occasion. Oh, and don't forget the shoddy old gym with the yellow lighting.
Best basketball moment: Playing college basketball, period. Circumstances were all but ideal, but I did it, nonetheless. Playing against my pals from McPherson, and my ex-roommates Donta' and Travis was really cool--though I would've rather been on the other side.
Best teacher: No good ones stand out. This was not a pleasant semester for me. Yikes.
Best friend: No one. Not while I was there, anyway. Ashley Hurd and I have become good friends since, though.
Crush: No one. I kept to myself--a lot.

Wichita State University: NCAA Div. I--Wichita, KS (2005-2007)
Mascot: Shockers
Where I played ball: Heskett Center--on WSU campus. Still play there whenever I can get back up there. I try to once a week.
Best basketball moment: Just the everyday camaraderie of the guys up at Heskett.
Best teacher: Stephen Hathaway. I took three different Literature classes from him. Would've taken more if I could. Hilarious man, and a very good teacher. Second place: Lindsey Harvell. But mostly because we became friends after that class. It was her first semester as a "real teacher," and she's only 3 years older than me. Cool chick.
Best friend: Amanda Walker. Best person I know, period. My hero. Though I miss Mac all the time, had I stayed, I never would've met her. Because of her, I realize God has a plan with everything He does.
Crushes: Amanda Walker, Darcie Spresser.

Is it weird that I never dated a single one of these college crushes? The only girlfriend I ever had while in college was with a girl I'd actually gone to High School with. This seems a little sad.

Tale of the tape:
Best campus: McPherson College. Small, but very homey. I miss that place every day.
Best cafeteria: Pittsburg State. The food may have been slightly better at Mac, but the convenience, the selection, and friendliness of cooks gives Pitt the edge.
Best dorms: McPherson College. Especially if you lived in Morrison Hall. Second place: Wichita State. The other two schools? Not quality.
Best athletic facilities: McPherson College. K-Dub has built a new gym that I haven't seen since I left. WSU has a very slick D-1 arena (Koch). But without a legit football stadium--or at least a team to use it--it's got to be Mac.
Best coach: Roger Trimmell, McPherson College. Not really even close here. If you know him, you know why. Second place: Nelson Haggerty (ex-Pitt State assistant). Very caring young coach who deserves a shot at the big-time someday. Honorable mention: Mark Turgeon (ex-WSU coach). A few isolated conversations with him, and attended a camp, but obviously never played for him.

I am sure this is not the least bit interesting to any of you, but it gave me something to sort out, if nothing else. Curse me and my OCD, eh?

*Sigh*

Do the right thing,
Derrick

You used to be Mel Clark?

Day 27: INcomplete

Morning session: N/A
Evening session: 6.29 miles
Total distance: 6.29 miles

No morning run yet again. Trying not to be too hard on myself, since I've already reached the 300 mark, but...this was the third morning in 4 days that I didn't run. Need to get after it tomorrow. We'll see if that pans out.

Managed to dig up a few more sports flicks around the house, and I'll check the town library to see if they have any others that I haven't watched yet this month...

Now: Rookie of the Year. It features the Cubs; what's not to like?

Speaking of which--the boys in blue are tied 1-1 heading to the 13th inning. Here we go again. They need the win to hold onto 1st place. C'mon, fellas!

But there's only a few minutes left in the movie, so next we'll have: Angels in the Outfield. Funny flick with some baseball, some silliness, and a few nice, sentimental moments, too.


**Cubs win, Cubs win! Grand slam, Alfonso Soriano! 5-1, Cubs in 13 innings. Huge, huge win!!**

Tonight's Top 10 list:

Top 10 Favorite teachers (excluding my mom) I've ever had (and what classes I had with them):

10. Chuck Killingsworth, Pittsburg State University: Fresman Experience
9. Allan Van Asselt, McPherson College: Chemistry
8. Cheryl Matthews, Pretty Prairie Middle School: 7th/8th grade English
7. Jon Johnson, Pretty Prairie High School: American History, American Government
6. C.T. Young, Pretty Prairie High School: Physical Science, Biology
5. Patti French, Pretty Prairie Middle School: 5th grade
4. B.J. Stegall, Pretty Prairie High School: Algebra II, Geometry
3. Lindsey Harvell, Wichita State University: Public Speaking
2. Chuck Ray, Pretty Prairie High School: English, Creative Writing
1. W. Stephen Hathaway, Wichita State University: American Literature, Modern American Writers, Nature of Fiction

Not sure what spurned this, but felt like it was a good use of some thought.

Side note; #3: Lindsey Harvell (aka, Linds) taught my Public Speaking class my first semester at WSU. I was a Junior, had just transferred in, and she was just starting her teaching career.
- She is now a professor at the University of Oklahoma *puke*. We became friends after that semester. Weird stuff. Cool chica, though.

Hathaway and Ray have both been very influential in my, uh, weirdness.

D, out.