1960
There were many things I found fascinating starting with the architecture. I loved the architecture and the buildings, particularly the main building. I liked the interaction with other students. My career started as a day student, but I got married and switched to the nights. I had to work during the day and attend classes at night. There were advantages to going through school in the evenings; the students were generally older because their situation was similar to mine and they had stories to tell. I appreciated the interaction of the evening students. The major thing that really occurred for me was the introduction of ROTC. I started off as a day student and when I switched to evening division, I still found ways to come during the day to attend ROTC. As a result of my attendance at ROTC, I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant when I graduated. I went into the Army, and I served 20 years in the military. That experience probably guided my adult life. To make it even more interesting during my military career, I became an ROTC instructor at another university. Some of those students are still in touch with me who went on to military careers. The other thing I remember about ROTC at CCNY was a classmate of mine, Colin Powell. We started off together in the day division. He graduated two years ahead of me and eventually became the US Secretary of State. CCNY guided my path. Serving in the military was one of the greatest benefits I've ever had. I owe that to CCNY.