Carlos Gutierrez:  

Have had a great experience so far, still plan to do plenty more... (1) Growing Up in San Antonio, TX: Lived in the "boonies" in Lackland Terrace back when Loop 410 was the extreme edge of San Antonio and Loop 1604 was a narrow "Death Loop" (OK, it's now a wider Death Loop ;) ). I remember Captain Gus (I was on his show twice!!!), and was the Michael Jordan of the KLRN PBS "Who Knows the Answer" Quiz Show (>50 points per game average). Went to Westwood Terrace Elementary and Sam Rayburn Jr High School (before it became a middle school - boy that makes you feel a little old!) (2) 1975-1979: Attended Central Catholic HS in San Antonio. Was a four year JROTC person, and served in the Honor Guard. Was named valedictorian and served as a JROTC Battalion Commander. Also, I was VERY shy of the girls at Providence, except for Terri Curiel (who was a sweetie, and my first real love). Boy it was a long city bus ride home from school, but walking in the downtown area to catch the bus was interesting. I loved walking from Central to Downtown after Honor Guard Practice (sometimes walking on little used parts of the Riverwalk along St Mary's before it became fancy), visiting "Poor Broke Brock's" used bookstore on Commerce, and seeing Bongo Joe practice his ware on the Riverwalk before he got famous. I recall the former ice house by Central (Franz's?), the after hours SRT/Color Guard/Chaminade Guard/Lloyd Rifles/Honor Guard round robin of pick-up football games in the Madison Square Park on Dallas Street by the Baptist Hospital. It was a great racket to be able to usher Spurs games in Hemisfair Arena dressed in JROTC uniforms, and see the game for free. In hindsight, it was ironic that I later attended college in Dallas, and graduate school in Baltimore (which had a Camden Yards Baseball field), since those were prominent streets I saw everyday around Central! (3) 1979-1983: Attended University of Dallas, majored in Physics, graduated in 1983 despite some intolerance from Spanish Professor Hazel Cazorla. Father Benedict was great. I liked hanging out with Tony Cornell, Andy Mena, John Boo, Bill Pease, Rob Malloy, and Wes Walter. Also liked hanging out with Cindy Werner (remember Ground Hog day?), Violet Cipolla, Kathleen Harkin and Terri Curiel (summers). I lived in the skid row dorm (Gregory hall), and witnessed election history - Bill Pease's "I don't care" campaign for SG President (which prompted Don Bella to bring in a roadkill armadillo for a campaign prop). I also had a chance to spend a semester in Rome Italy, and travel through Europe by train and thumb, a memory I'll always treasure. It was fun entering Texas Stadium for free at half-time to see a lot of Dallas Cowboys games, and going to a lot of artsy movies and rock concerts. Driving in Dallas got me ready for driving in the DC/Baltimore area a few years later! (4) 1983-1984: After UD, worked for a year as Physical Scientist doing engine failure analysis at Kelly AFB in San Antonio. I had also worked there three previous summers while I was going to UD. Met a lot of nice people at Kelly (I wonder where they are now), but the mundane job duties were more than enough motivation to restoke my drive to go to grad school. A lot of folks thought I was crazy to leave a "secure" civil service job at Kelly AFB, but that was before the BRAC closed it! On a more personal note, I had the privilege to meet a great friend, Tammie Sheets, who helped me grow up a bit and become a better person. It was tough to let go of my friendship with her when I moved away to Baltimore. I wish I would have been wise enough to end it better. (5) 1984-1990: Attended graduate school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (aka, Bawlmer) MD, which was a world away from life in San Antonio. After the i...Expand for more