That year at UVA was really transformational, in many ways; although of course I did not realize it at the time. It was my first time away from home for an extended period, for one; other than two months at a summer camp, when I was a young teen. It was a totally new experience for me, for another. The phrase “Culture Shock,” later popularized, was an apt description.

UVA at the time had the reputation of being “the Harvard of the South,” which I quickly discovered was totally undeserved. As reputations often are, I have found.

Back then, students were required to wear coats and ties to class – an affectation of being “upper class,” I suppose.

UVA was also a predominantly male institution, at that time, although that was shortly about to change.

A holdover from the “Plantation South,” I suppose, when women were expected to “stay home and raise the children,” and men were expected to “conduct the affairs of the world.” Surprising to me that this idea had lasted so long. After all, this was no longer the 1850’s, it was 1970 – 120 years later! (“Old habits die hard,” as the saying goes.)

The only females allowed to be students at that time were either wives of students and professors, or daughters of professors; so there were very few of them. I did happen to have two of them in my freshman French 101 class, taught by a young woman from Paris, probably a graduate student, Ms. Garnier, a very good teacher.

They were two of the seven young women who sued the University Board of Visitors later that year for “Unlawful Discrimination,” claiming that since women paid state taxes, using those taxes to fund UVA while denying them admittance was unlawful.

They won, and I cheered!

I had spent my first two years in high school in Savannah at an all-boys school, which I hated; and that year UVA was about the same. I transferred to UGA the next year, and was greatly rewarded for doing so. As I was when I transferred to (“the Original”) Savannah High School for my last two years in high school.

What a huge difference that made.

When I first signed up for dorm space at UVA, I had pre-arranged to room with a classmate from SHS, whom I knew only slightly. I figured it was better to room that first year with someone I knew, rather than a total stranger. It worked out OK for a couple of months.

The two guys in the room next to us were an Italian from New York City, Al, and a Polish fellow from New Jersey.

I really did not know either of them very well at first. They traded ethnic jokes (“Polacks” vs. “Wops”) those first couple of months, first in fun, until they got sick of each other. So, we wound up trading – the Italian moved in with me, and my roommate moved in with the guy from New Jersey, and that worked out much better.

I was very lucky in a couple of my college roommates, and got to be very good friends with two of them. Al from NYC was one of them.

He was much more politically aware than I was at that point; and did open my mind to a great many things, for which I was later very grateful. We have kept in touch, albeit sporadically, all these many years later. (I later made another very close friend from New York City, in graduate school at UGA.

Roberta had an equally far-reaching mind as Al did; and enjoyed my crazy sense of humor and exposure to classical music as much as he did.

I was very lucky to get to know them both.)

At UGA, my second- year roommate was a guy from Brunswick whose dad worked for Georgia Pacific, and had gotten transferred to Ontario, Canada, for four years, so Ron had spent his high school years there. We had a lot of interesting conversations on that score. He and I bonded in much the same way Al and I did at UVA: similar tastes in music, similar outlooks in life, etc. I was very grateful for that friendship.

I always recommends to my younger friends to get as much education as they can, particularly when they are young, because it’s easier then, before one has the burdens of having to make a living weighing on you. And whatever one learns then, it is bound to be helpful, sooner or later, even if one doesn’t see it then or not. I have seen this happen many times in the past.

The years I spent at UGA, after that one year at UVA, were enormously impactful on my growth and development. But that’s a subject for a later column, or three.

Rafe Semmes is a proud graduate of (“the original”) Savannah High School and the University of Georgia. He and his wife are both long-time Rotarians, and live in eastern Liberty County with their passel of orphaned rescue cats. He writes on a variety of topics, and may be reached at rafe_semmes@yahoo.com.