For this week’s profile, I chose to interview a very special UWL alumna: my mom, Sue. Here’s what she had to say about her time at La Crosse.
When did you go to La Crosse?
I went to La Crosse from 1986-1990.
What did you study?
Elementary education.
You’ve been back to UWL now that I go to school here. What has changed about campus?
Well, some of the buildings are different–the curriculum library I worked in that was in Morris Hall isn’t there now, which surprised me. There was no clock tower, Cartwright was still there–I know it still is, somewhat, but I spent a lot of time there and it’s not going to be used the same way anymore– and none of the same faculty I had are still there.
What things are the same?
From the outside, Morris Hall looks exactly the same as when I went to school there. And the hallways themselves are the same. Cartwright also looked pretty much the same, except for the dining places, but the overall structure is the same and I remembered studying there quite a lot. And the library looks the same from the outside, but I bet the inside is different. I remember looking through card catalogs–and I know you don’t do that anymore. The basic layout of getting around campus is the same, they’ve just added some new buildings. When I drive down State Street, it looks pretty much the same as it did when I went there.
What’s a good memory you have from UWL?
My semester of student teaching was good, because it was near the end of my school and it was my chance to use what I learned. Meeting friends–I got to know a lot of people well, because everyone in my major had the same classes. And it was college, so it’s always a fun time of life. I lived off campus so that made it a little different, but it was still fun.
What things did you do with friends in your free time?
When I was in college, the drinking age was 19, so we could go downtown; we went to Big Al’s, and the Library. You guys go to the Pearl, but that wasn’t there yet. Where Moka is there was a place called Mr. D’s, and we would go when they would make donuts late at night, like at 10:00. I also had a job all through college, so I was working a lot.
What else do you remember from UWL?
I remember having classes that were so hard to get into: I wanted to take weather and climate, but I had to take maps and landforms instead, and I had so much trouble getting into minority studies, which I needed for my major. And signing up for classes was so different: you had your day and your time, and there were big tables, I think in Morris Hall, set up with boxes with cards in them for all the classes and you had to walk around and try to get the cards you needed for the schedule you wanted. What you do now is much better!
What’s the most important thing you got out of your time at UWL?
I got the skills I needed to do what I wanted to do, and I left feeling prepared for a job. So even though my job didn’t turn out exactly as I planned, I would say that’s the most important part.