Campus Sweethearts Contest Winners
Winning Submission #1 (Sam McLamb)
It was August 23, 1971 and I was standing in that long line to register for another semester of classes. I was in a line for those students whose last names began with "McL," (or so I thought!) I had barely survived my first year in Owen Dorm, yet at eighteen I had completed enough hours (with the help of Summer School) to be called a Sophomore.
Surely someone could come up with a better way to speed up this registration process! To pass the time, I had been eavesdropping on a conversation between two gorgeous coeds standing behind me. Upon hearing that the blonde was from Morehead City, I determined to overcome my shyness and find out the name of this "beach babe." I learned that she was Teena McLean and that she was a Freshman, having just arrived on campus. As we talked, waited, and walked the line to the registration table, the time seemed to pass by way to quickly. Upon presenting our paperwork, we discovered to our surprise that we were both in the wrong line! Now we had to start over again at the back of another line. That was my lucky day!
I am pleased to report that Teena McLean McLamb and I have recently
celebrated our28th wedding anniversary. We currently reside in western
N.C. near Asheville.
Winning Submission #2 (Brad Rhodes)
Hi NCSU!,
I sure do miss those days of walking past Patterson Hall and being proud to be in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I have enjoyed all of the correspondence from you since my graduation.
Here is my submission for Campus Sweethearts:
In November of 1996 my first semester of my sophomore year was quickly coming to an end. With exams looming some friends of mine thought it a good idea to have some late semester parties. At one of these parties I saw a familiar face. It seems that my friends somehow knew a girl that I had been noticing in previous semesters what was apparently in my major; (Pre-Med Zoology). I didn't know much about her other than she was in the top of our class, constantly on Dr. Hentz's chemistry whiz list. Somehow her intelligence made me feel inferior. As she approached me at this party I said a quick "hello" and then shied away. She later told me she noticed I was very short with her. A couple of weeks later I had just finished taking my Chemistry 107 final exam when I saw Melissa exiting the same exam. She explained to me that it was her birthday and she would again be socializing with my friends that night. So I decided that after work I would put on my best clothes and pay her a birthday visit.
Needless to say we had a great time that night and began to date over the Christmas holiday. We continued to date all through college seeing each other frequently in class since we shared a major.
The interesting part of this story is when we both graduated with honors from NCSU it was time to make the medical school decision. I decided against it, in fact I determined that I would be better suited to get out of life sciences all together. Melissa decided that she would pursue a PhD which she just attained from Duke University in Pharmacology. The problem was: what was I going to do? Well, on a very romantic trip to the NC Zoo we had a discussion about the things that I liked to do. Though I had never flown an airplane I knew I liked to fly and equally liked traveling. So after some VERY hard work and countless dollars getting my ratings I now have a job as an Airline Pilot! I fly large regional jets for a major airline and love my job. Melissa and I decided to marry just after I finished flight school and had a fairy tale wedding at the Duke Chapel. We now live in the Raleigh area and attend every NCSU home football game.
I hope that each student that met someone at N.C. State has a
special story and a special person as I do.
Winning Submission #3 (Bill Goodwin)
It was the fall of '46 when droves of men were coming to State College after being discharged from services in World War II. Three of us were bunked in a basement room at Clark Avenue and Horne Street. I was asked to be a blind date for a Meredith girl. I found out later that the only reason she accepted was because it was for the Ag Club Picnic! She has turned out to be my Meredith "Angel" for 55 years to date.Winning Submission #4 (Dorothy Kalet)
In the fall of 1955, I transferred from what was then WC (now UNCG) to State College. I was enroled in the pre-vet program. I was used to buying used books at WC so i asked my advisor's secretary where i could get used text books for my ag courses. She told me to get in touch with Bruce Collect at the AZ bookstore in the student union building. I immediately found the AZ bookstore and asked for Bruce Collect. A short dark haired young man asked if Bert Kalet would suit, and i said yes. He didn't have any of the books i needed that day. The next time i checked for used books it was raining. I was wearing a white raincoat. That must have made an impression. When we started classes, Bert Kalet was enrolled in one of mine. He remembered me because of the white raincoat and asked me for three dates at one time. WE went to two ball games and a Farm House square dance. That started it all. We were both accepted to the University of Georgia Veterinary School the next fall, and were married after out first year in veterinary school.On November 2, 1968 off I went with my blind date in a 1955 cevrolet to the Clemson football game. After that my date and I went to several Friends of the College events including the Four Seasons show. Both of us bing CALS students, we began arranging classes together. Studying and working on assignments took on a new meaning. Kerry was good in Bolinean Algebra and didn't dread Organic Chemisty under Dr. Jones as much as I did.
Little did we know that this blind date would be come a 33 year
marriage. The Clemson quarterback would be in our Sunday School class
eventually, and that both our daughters would be NCSU honor graduates.
All four of us attend the local NC State Alumni and Wolfpack Club
meetings en mass. SOmeday our infant twin grandsons will be third
generation NC State students as well. They already look great in their
State outfits.
If you have a story, please send it to us: calsalum@ncsu.edu