In the fall of 1999, twenty years after I arrived as a freshman, I returned to Residential College - this time to teach. My husband, Steve, an Army Infantry officer, and I moved to Fayetteville last March when Steve was assigned to Fort Bragg and I took a leave of absence from my position in the History Department at The Citadel. As soon as I knew we were going to Fayetteville, I called Fran Arndt and begged for a job, hoping for the chance to teach in the program that inspired me to make the academic world my career. Before I knew it, I was back in Ashby Parlor (once known as the "Large Parlor") teaching a section of Core!

As I write, the semester is almost over, and I've had a great time. My first impression upon returning was a surprising sense of familiarity. I thought it would be surreal to return to my college dorm after a long absence, but it seemed like I had never left.

At first I instinctively looked to the left when I walked to the office, checking to see if I had any mail in my box, or messages on the board. Seeing Fran and Betty hard at work as always, I felt I had just stepped out of the building for a few minutes, not several years. The parlor looks unchanged except for the addition of a handicapped ramp; I'm sure the sofas are the same ones I could never get a seat on during Core. Even teaching Core, instead of seeming weird, just seemed perfectly normal. If I am in RC, I must be heading for the parlor at 11:00 on MWF.

But other things have been very unfamiliar - not the least of which was learning to address Dr. Calhoon as "Bob"! Perhaps after teaching for seven years at a military college, I am out of touch with college fashions, but when Steve and I arrived for the beginning-of-the-year faculty/student cookout, the scene looked more like the '70s than it did in