By Luis Olguin I remember one of the Emory University Deans giving a speech my first day of college about how the freshman class included students from 25 different countries and highlighting the class of 2002 as one of the largest and most diverse in Emory’s history. I thought to myself, 25 countries? I just came from a place with twice as many! From kids whose commute from Palm Beach was too long to kids whose commute crossed several continents, the Pine Crest dorm was a unique melting pot of young people. From 1993 to 1998, I lived with guys from Saudi Arabia, Brazil, the Caribbean and Thailand (who could forget the Thai Scholars with their unpronounceable last names). The dorms truly added rare, early exposure to a rich diversity of cultures and people that touched anyone associated with them. Everyone had a different experience at the Pine Crest dorm. For me, it started in eighth grade with big Chris Chen ’94 (Miami) pointing me to my room. As excited as I was about the new experience, being in that barren room for the first time was a bit shocking, and I wasn’t too sure about this bunk bed thing. That night we had a dorm meeting in the co-ed lounge and then prefect Andrew Wetenhall ’94 gave a speech, talking about the rules of the dorm…rules, roommates, study hall, dorm parents, shared bathrooms…that was a lot for a 13-year-old from Peru to handle! Playing basketball later that first week I met Kush Parmar ’98 (Mexico), Andrew High (Turks and Caicos), and Wilson Wu ’98 (Hong Kong), the other eighth graders that year. While the first weeks may have been a bit tough, over time, that place did become a home away from home for many of us. I remember sneaking into my first R-rated movie with Christoph Look (Germany) and learning how to shave from David Asari (Saudi Arabia).
8
For the younger guys, older “dormies” were like big brothers: they had cars, the corner rooms, and later curfews. For the older guys, we were probably not more than a nuisance. I can’t count the times Andrew Whitaker ’96 (Brazil), David St. Louis ’96 (Atlanta) or David Kozloff ’97 (New Jersey) drove us to grab food, saved us from the dreaded short bus ride to the mall, or spared us from the religious conversations with Sam Lin ’97. I also recall always hearing Sandeep Chapalmadugu’s guitar, the arguments in Cantonese between Max ’96 and Wilson Wu (Hong Kong), Leslie Loggans ’97 trying to be funny, the time John Angelini ’97 fell from his bunk, Chi-Hung Jone’s ’95 (Saudi Arabia) unnatural vertical leap, Gordon Chen ’97 and Gary Whitehouse ’97 trying to put me in a wrestling hold, Nacho Larran’s ’96 (Canary Islands) power basketball game, and June Ro’s ’97 (Korea) lack of any game. Those days were a lot of fun, and it was the people at the dorm who made it special. On a typical dorm day, I’d either wake myself up or my roommate would beat me to it - thanks for participating in crew Matt Drossos ’98 (Kentucky). Light sleepers probably were awakened by the splattering of the swimmers next door. For the hard sleepers, it was Mrs. Blanton banging on your door as she checked all the rooms every morning. Once you were up, you’d inevitably have to wait for a shower since 64 boys shared 4 bathrooms and everyone tried to get those last precious minutes of sleep before first-period class. Our school days were very similar to day students’, although the ability to take a mid-day nap back in your room was a sure positive. Most of us were involved in sports or afterschool activities. Imagine having 20 sons come back home with dirty football gear and combine that smell with the chlorine-soaked swimmers.