# My schoolboy spot



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

_Sweet is old wine in bottles, ale in barrels, and sweet the schoolboy spot
That we ne'er forget, though there we are forgot._ George Gordon, Lord Byron

When I think of that line, I think of my college education. It occurred in a little-known town where the mollisols of the prairie approached the exurbs of a major metropolitan area. There, I fed my increasing appetite for Classical Music with the help of a vinyl shop called "Appletree Records." Also, I cultivated dilettante interests in Literature and Philosophy, as well as a somewhat more serious interest in Geopolitics. For the sake of full disclosure, it must be added that these subjects were frequently surpassed by enthusiasm for racquet sports, table games, and adult beverages. There were some not-so-easy times, to be sure, but my favorite pre-marriage moments happened at that place.

My University is not especially known for the famous people who've studied there, but it can count Academy-award-nominated actress Joan Allen, TV's voice of Homer Simpson Dan Castellaneta, and former United States House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert among its enrollees. Bitterly, it is now also known as the place where a mass-murderer calculatedly ended five lives before he (far too belatedly as far as I'm concerned) ended his own.

I can only report, on a personal level, that feels very different when it's one's _own_ school that's victimized by such villainy. *Northern Illinois University* is tens of thousands of students and hundreds of thousands of alumni strong- and it's strong enough to endure even this level of heinousness. However, for those of you who (like me) believe in a Supreme Being, I ask that you keep a place in your prayers for the victims of this senseless evil. Please keep "My schoolboy spot" in your thoughts, even if not inclined to prayer. So, in solidarity with HUSKIE NATION, thank you for considering the perspective of your humble dilettante.

CTP. Proud alumnus. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY. Class of... about a quarter-of-a-century ago.


----------

