Sheryl Carpenter:  

School I spent most of my time in high school in the music department. I played the clarinet in band and sang in the varsity chorus. I never tried out for madrigals, although I did make league choir when I tried out for that. I was also in league band in my junior and senior years. Academically I didn't do too bad considering I never opened a book or studied (I graduated with a 2.8 gpa). I also didn't take any academic classes that weren't required. The most fun I had in high school was participating in the musicals at the end of the year. I made a lot of friends that way and especially enjoyed the cast parties. I didn't date much because I wasted so much time having crushes on mostly piano players. Something about watching their hands dance over the keys was a real turn-on for me. Guitar players also caught my attention for the same reason. The dates I did go on ended up in disaster either because the guy got drunk and/or stoned or because I wouldn't put out. C'est la vie. My closest friends were Chris Sutton, Vivian Harrington and Nancy Violette. If I had to choose my favorite academic class, it was Miss Best's creative writing class. College Eight o'clock classes, Modes of Discourse, Psychology 101, learning that boys didn't believe any girl could reach college age and still be a virgin. Those were the things I hated about college. As a music major, I remember taking sight singing and ear training, which we affectionately called fright singing and fear training. I wonder what happened to people sometimes. I was only there a year, but had a big crush on little Tim Nichols of the music department, got a bad reputation when I stayed all night in Jerome Skippergosh's room playing cards, gained the required Freshman 10 pounds but then lost it again by Spring when I realized going back for seconds was bad for my figure. But meals were the only things I looked forward to. I was 500 miles away from home and friends and felt like an outsider at NMU. Fast forward 30 years. Finally got an Associates Degree from College of DuPage (IL) in 2004 with a 3.92 gpa (compared to 2.8 in high school!) and earned a huge Phi Theta Kappa scholarship to Elmhurst College - one of the top ten colleges in its class in the U.S. Earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Computer Science in Dec. 2006 - with honors! Military I was at RTC in Orlando in May of 1980 in K090. I was section 6 leader and remember Tina Kopp - she is the only person in my section I remember. I went in with my sister Debbie (Hagen at the time) but was discharged during Ship's Work Week because of a bad knee. I joined the Navy at the age of 24 because I was tired of dead-end jobs and being turned down for loans and/or grants for school. I chose the Navy because I liked the uniforms best, and wanted to get an education. Oddly enough, I couldn't swim, but I managed...Expand for more