09 autumn reporter 1-20 - Franklin College

moments, but mostly as I think about those
days a collage of memories flood my brain.
Baseball road trips with brown bag lunches
and spring breaks in Daytona Beach were
special. SEB events with comedians like Carrot
Top and singers like Mike Rayburn remain
fond memories. Bowling and privy burnings
were other highlights. How could one forget
waking up one morning to see a blizzard of
toilet paper encompassing the entire campus
or seeing Ben painted yet another color? My
fondest memories may be the laid-back afternoons
on Dame Mall and the meals at SAGA,
just hanging out and being with friends.
Ultimately, however, I think my favorite FC
memory is about people. FC is where I met
my wife, Kristi (King) ’93, and where I made
some lifelong friends. It’s the students,
faculty and staff who made FC special for me.
John D. Henderson ’94: My experiences as a
student-athlete were some of the best times
of my life. I came to Franklin College not
knowing who I was or what I truly wanted
to do. I only knew I wanted to be part of a
team and continue to compete. I joined the
varsity basketball team as a freshman and was
happy that coach Handley was gracious
enough to allow me to play. I worked hard for
three years to make the starting lineup. It was
by no means easy to accomplish. In the spring
of my junior year I was able to put all the
things I’d learned together to compete hard
and beat Hanover. Franklin had not had a win
over Hanover in three years! That win helped
me realize many goals I had set for myself.
I felt like I was finally able to call myself a
student-athlete. More importantly, it made
me feel like I was finally a leader on the team.
Those principles of hard work became the
cornerstone of my job as a leader with the
City of Franklin Fire Department.
Mary Goebel ’95: I have many favorite
memories, but there are a few with the
common theme of food. I met one of my
good friends, Cindy (Ennis) Placek ’94,
one evening our freshman year when we
both happened to be walking out of Elsey
Hall, heading over to the campus center for
dinner. We somehow started talking. Years
later we are still good friends and always will
be. I also remember waking up late on a
Sunday morning, after a long, fun Saturday
night, and rushing over to get some sausage
gravy and biscuits in the nick of time before
the line closed. My only option for dinner
on Sunday nights was something good and
greasy from The Key; I had no car, and it was
cheaper than ordering pizza!
Jennifer (Marshall) Donovan ’96: Some of
my favorite memories include spending late
nights in Shirk Hall editing “Inside Franklin,”
the SEB guest hypnotist who always made
students do funny things on stage, decorating
the fraternity houses during Greek Week,
spending Saturdays in the fall at football
games, meeting friends whom I hope to have
for a lifetime, seeing my bid from Zeta Tau
Alpha being slid under my door in Elsey Hall,
Grizzly Grand Prix weekends, dancing in the
windows of Johnson Dietz, going to sorority
formals and hanging out with friends at The
Willard and Mike’s.
Susan (Neal) Lynch ’96: My favorite memories
are of meeting great people who I am still
friends with, making waffles in Saga on a lazy
Sunday morning and feeling the energy and
pride we shared on Homecoming weekends.
I still get those feelings when I come back for
Homecoming!
Jennifer Martin ’96: I remember senior year
gathering with the first floor gals in Dietz
Center lounge to watch everybody’s favorite
two shows, “Friends” and “ER.” We didn’t
watch TV any other time, but we all stopped
what we were doing to hang out and catch
our favorite dramas.
Jane Mitchell ’96: In April of 1994, I had to
leave FC due to declining health. During the
next fall, on my first weekend of freedom after
surgery, I headed down to FC. I was able to
sneak into Saga (The college social capital!)
and see everyone. It was an overwhelming
experience. The looks on people’s faces were
of pure shock. I don’t know that I have ever
had so many hugs in such a short amount
of time! I’m sure I was looking about 200
percent better than the last time many had
seen me. After Saga, I went to the ZTA suite
for the last night of Greek Rush (The sappiest
of nights). That is when I became completely
emotional, not believing that I had made it
back to FC. It was hard to imagine how
things could be so much the same, yet change
so drastically at the same time. The next
morning, I found my sorority sisters gathered
on the doorstep of the apartment where I
was staying for the weekend. They were having
a serenading parade to introduce the new
pledges. It was an unbelievable weekend
for me, and it made me that much more
motivated to get back to FC to finish school.
Let’s face facts; it’s the people who make
Franklin so special.
Sarah Smith-Robbins ’96: I took knitting
and weaving during Winter Term one year
with Kathy Carlson, English professor. We
spent the whole month knitting, drinking
tea and looking out the windows of Old Main,
watching the snow fall. I learned so much
more than how to knit a sweater. It was a
great experience.
Lori (Jones) Tish ’96: Some of my most
cherished Franklin College memories include
hanging out with friends and roommates
Jennifer (Eroen) Shamsaie ’96, Kim (Reckers)
Drook ’96, Cara (Riley) O’Connell ’96 and
Jennifer Martin ’96, participating in Tri Delta
events, spending late nights in Shirk Hall,
strolling through campus on a beautiful
autumn day, traveling to the southwest
during Winter Term 1994, delving into
photography with journalism professor Susan
Fleck and learning about public relations and
advertising from journalism professor John
Ellerbach. Of course, another treasured FC
memory includes meeting, dating and getting
engaged to my now-husband Jamie Tish ’96.
Amy (Kean) VerSteeg ’96: One of the things I
remember most about college is dorm life.
After having grown up in a rural area, where it
took 15 minutes by car to get, well, anywhere,
I quickly came to appreciate the convenience
and fun of having friends just a dorm room or
a couple of floors away. Even the typical dorm
noises — slamming doors, laughter in the
hallways, music blaring — were a novelty to
me. Franklin College was the first place I truly
experienced a sense of community, and for
that I’m still grateful.
Adrienne McGee ’97: I loved living in Cline
Hall, the supposed “quiet” dorm. Even though
my room was on the third floor and the stairs
got a little old, the crazy mix of people living
in that dorm was so fun. You truly never knew
what you would see down the hall as you came
out of the stairwell. That’s how college should
be — people of all cultures and ages and
walks of life just hanging out. And to this very
day, every time I hear “Heart-Shaped Box” by
Nirvana, I think instantly of the lounge at the
end of that hall. MTV was always on in that
lounge, and that was the year of Nirvana.
WWW.FRANKLINCOLLEGE.EDU AUTUMN 2009 53