College hacks

When I reflect on my college days, I sometimes have to marvel at all the many little entrepreneurial acts and hacks that helped me to make it through nine years of university education, including how to pay my bills, have some leisure or small luxuries and to just stay in college.

What follows is a list of prompts, reminding me of a particular action or event. The prompt conjures up quite a story; if you want the details or just a simple explanation, ask.

- long distance phone calls from the resident hall office, 1970

- the runaway 'milk machine' in Smith Hall, 1974

- cutting down and decorating a free Christmas tree, November 1969

- working in the campus pub: Two free bottles and a pint of ice cream after a shift and free tap beer when I was not working.

- Showing 'Alice in wonderland' to 2,400 students in one night, at an admission price of a quarter -- and a cost of $25 to rent the film; free advertising for our movies in the Pipe Dream; being your own projectionist; feeding friends to work selling tickets.

- hitchhiking and bumming rides to get home

- being a member of Mr C's club in State College