First Impressions

My first journey to Muncie took place several years ago & to this day I've held a very high affinity for the place as well as my alma mater.

True, I've made many visits back to my second home since then but the first trip to Ball State stands out the most & is the one road trip which left a strong first impression on me from the get-go.

Back then, I had time to burn, an off weekend with nothing to do & lots to think about. So it naturally seemed like an awesome choice to go out, see the world, enjoy every waking moment out on the road. That's exactly what happened on that eventful Saturday morning/early afternoon: I hit the road & was determined to get my kicks checking out Ball State for the very first time (I planned to go sometime the month before but circumstances kept me from doing so).

Nowadays, I prefer to take I-69 to get down to BSU. But there have always been those instances where taking the long way to Muncie is the only route that could ever do, period. On that day, I tore up the back streets of southwestern Fort Wayne en route to the great wide open, past Ft. Wayne Int'l Airport & all those far south-side businesses/industries...Kerouac was right on the money when he said in his classic novel On The Road, "The road is life."

So I spent an hour or so coursing my way past Markle, Hartford City (where I stopped to grab some grub before setting out to finish the remainder of my journey to Muncie). The back way down seemed like forever in those days & still does but I wouldn't have traded this route for the easy breezy interstate jaunt; no, I wanted to see the world shining all of its colors brightly, in all of its splendor & to see the sights which it had to offer in spades.

After the journey was complete, I set foot on campus with a sense of wonder which has continued to be unsurpassed to this very day...the joy, the beauty of this place was beyond words. I didn't feel lost or alone at all; I felt right at home with this place. Finally, I felt that I had arrived with a mission, a common vision, a focus for my life. Though I didn't know it at the time, this trip really was fuel for my fire when it came to going out on the road (& gaining a stronger love for BSU, especially by attending BSU home football games).

Only a year later, I decided to enroll down @ Ball State & the impressions of that first sojourn to Muncie were still very strong indeed. It was that very first trip which gave me the impetus to choose BSU over any other college right here in the Hoosier state & a good call I didn't regret making. What life would have been like if I didn't decide to cruise down to good ol' Muncie on that wonderful day in March 2000, I'm not so sure. But I'm grateful to have been caught up in that moment, & to have made a memory worth remembering, one of many which I would wind up making just prior to setting foot on campus as an official student & while an undergraduate.