By Cal Lutheran NewsFrom first-day jitters to forming lifelong friendships, alumni share memories of their days in the Cal Lutheran residence halls.
Vicki (Brandt ’66) Walker
In the early years at California Lutheran College, the women’s dorms were Alpha and Beta Hall. After a long night of studying at the library, I returned to my room at Alpha Hall to find my bed was missing!
Unbeknownst to me, my roommate and the dorm president had decided to play a prank on me. I ran out of my room to look for the bed, but only saw only a few people, including my roommate. No bed. Apparently the two culprits were “moving” my bed and when she spied me, my roommate forcibly pushed the mattress into the person holding the other end.
Finally, after several frustrating minutes — maybe an hour — I found my bed. It was nicely made, pillow and all, on the landing, midway down the steps in the foyer of Alpha Hall. I had been pranked.
Maria (McDonald ’69) Grago
A long time ago six young ladies moved into Beta Dorm, and we were six in a room made for two. Our first task as roommates was to move large furniture. Two roomies had to share a bunk bed. We were given white sheets and towels, which the college would launder each week. We cleaned our rooms, but living in the room was an education in management. There were curfews, room checks and rules. Ladies were to wear dresses, but we were allowed to wear pants on certain occasions.
There was a recreation room on the first floor that housed a TV, old couch and a piano. In the rec room we had engagement ceremonies: The room was dark, and we sat in a circle and passed the lighted candle. One roomie blew out the candle with her engagement ring on it. The foyers were elaborately decorated for Homecoming and special events. Some won a prize for the best décor (including my roomie’s dorm). For Mother and Daughters Weekend, our mothers lived in our rooms for the weekend and attended a fashion show and tea.
Our happiness was forming lifelong friendships. I had wonderful roommates. We celebrated our birthdays and holidays together. We kept our friendships through the years.
Jayme (Housh ’96) Johnson, EdD ’16
The first night, after moving into Thompson, my roomies and I did a Target run and bought all the things, plus roller blades. We had so much fun on our after-dark roller blading adventures around campus that year. Lots of laughs and amazing memories were made with Michelle (Wright ’96) Bertier, Karen (Billings ’96) Schuster and Kelly (Watson ’96) Ghaffary.
Jordan Sanchez ’23
I grew up in Hawai’i and was nervous to attend a university so far from home. All my life, I always thought your college roommates were supposed to be your first friends on campus. That wasn’t true for me as my roommate left Cal Lu on the second day of orientation! Not only was I so far from home; now I was alone. During orientation weekend, I sat on the floor of my dorm and cried my eyes out as I unpacked the clothes from my luggage. In that moment, I was telling myself I would need to move back home to pursue my education.
That same weekend, I had the courage to ask Maylee Murillo ’23, someone in my orientation group, if I could hike the CLU Rocks with her. We hiked the rocks together with some of her friends who were all Oxnard locals, and the rest is history! Many of my favorite memories from Cal Lutheran involved the friends I made that weekend. If I could time travel back to 2019 when I was crying on the floor in Mt. Clef 323, I would tell myself, “The friends you make this weekend are going to be the same friends you walk the stage with on graduation day. Everything will be OK.”
