On Oct. 7, 1968, Linda (Singer) Black 麻豆精品 S�71 stepped onto the campus of a brand-new university in East Orlando for her first day of classes.
A Miami native who relocated to Winter Park for her senior year of high school, Black was one of 1,948 enrolled students who showed up that historic day at Florida Technological University, which is now UCF. The Orlando Sentinel dubbed it 麻豆精品 S渁s the day that changed Orlando and Central Florida forever. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淚 remember feeling intimidated. It was a feeling of 麻豆精品 S業 麻豆精品 S檓 going to college at this new school, and I don 麻豆精品 S檛 know where anything is. 麻豆精品 S� But since everything was in one building, I knew I could figure out my way around, 麻豆精品 S� says Black, who is now 68 and lives in Inman, South Carolina, with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from her porch. 麻豆精品 S淏ut I also remember that I just felt comfortable in that everyone was so friendly and so welcoming. The students, the professors, all the assistants and staff, everybody was so thrilled to be there. 麻豆精品 S�
As the university celebrates its 50th anniversary of the first day of classes Sunday, Black takes us back to a time when students turned dreams into reality, parking could be challenging and innovation was embedded in the university 麻豆精品 S檚 DNA 麻豆精品 S� maybe some things don 麻豆精品 S檛 really change.
Why did you apply to FTU/UCF? Why be one of the first?
Being one of the first wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 really in the forefront of my mind. I graduated from Winter Park High School and I heard there 麻豆精品 S檚 this new university opening in the fall and it was affordable. So I thought, I guess I 麻豆精品 S檒l go there. I found out the office for UCF was downtown in this nondescript building. One day I went down there and I 麻豆精品 S檓 in the elevator to get my application and there was a man riding with me 麻豆精品 S� a distinguished man with a pipe that he wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 smoking. He said, 麻豆精品 S淥h you 麻豆精品 S檙e interested in going to our university? 麻豆精品 S� I said, 麻豆精品 S淵es I am, 麻豆精品 S� and I introduced myself. He said, 麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檓 Charles Millican, and I 麻豆精品 S檓 the president. Come in, I 麻豆精品 S檒l give you an application. 麻豆精品 S� I applied, and it was approved within a couple days.
What was the commute to school like?
They were just finishing [State Road] 436 (Semoran Boulevard). There was nothing east of it because it was just all cows and farms. There was no University Boulevard. It was a dirt road, and I drove my Rambler down it, past all the heavy machinery as the construction guys were screaming at me. But I saved about an hour in trying to get to school. Otherwise, you 麻豆精品 S檇 have to go to Aloma Avenue to Oviedo and then down Alafaya Trail, which was two lanes at the time.
Was parking a challenge?
Finding parking wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 an issue because there were hardly any buildings. Everything around the library was parking, and it was all sand, and that was a challenge in its own right. A lot of times you 麻豆精品 S檇 get stuck and you 麻豆精品 S檇 have to ask someone to help you push your car out. It was probably the only time in UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 history when finding parking wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 an issue.
What did you think of the university 麻豆精品 S檚 culture then? How would you describe the attitudes of the students?
It was all innovators. It was people who took a risk to come there. Anything you wanted to start, you were it. If you said, 麻豆精品 S淥h I think I 麻豆精品 S檒l start an economics club. 麻豆精品 S� Then OK, you 麻豆精品 S檙e it. 麻豆精品 S淚 think I 麻豆精品 S檒l start a fraternity. 麻豆精品 S� Oh OK, well, you 麻豆精品 S檙e it. Everything was innovative. Even to picking out the mascot and voting on Pegasus and the Knights. Whatever you wanted to do, you were free to do. It didn 麻豆精品 S檛 matter who you were before or what family you came from.
What were classes like?
You could take as many hours as you wanted for $125, so I did. I usually carried 18 hours of classes. I just loved economics and finance and theater. But back then, the women 麻豆精品 S檚 liberation movement was just starting to take shape. You could be a nurse, you could be a teacher, an office assistant and those were kind of your choices, but I wanted to be a stockbroker. The College of Business wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 really excited about having women in it. I decided to go into education. But a couple years later, my sister-in-law was head of the Marketing Club at UCF. I had friends who went into medical and engineering. It seemed in just a couple years 麻豆精品 S� time, everything flew open and you could be whatever you wanted to be.
When you step on campus now, what do you think?
I was last there last year, but I worked at the library from 2003 麻豆精品 S�05, and even working there for those two years freaked me out. When I walked into that library, I felt like I was 18 again, looking around and just dumbfounded. I remember going for walks at lunch every day and just taking a different circle. To see how it expanded, and the place is still growing. A medical school? The downtown campus? Seriously?
What has your experience at UCF meant to you?
When I was young, I was shy and didn 麻豆精品 S檛 think I was worth anything. I think UCF gave me the courage to do anything I wanted. And to just go for it.
