{"511411":{"#nid":"511411","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Kissing at the Crosswalk","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EStephen C. Hall, a member of the Ivan Allen College Advisory Board and the namesake of Georgia Tech\u0027s Stephen C. Hall building, wrote about \u003Cem\u003Ehis undergraduate experience at Georgia Tech for\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;the spring 2016 issue of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtalumni.org\/s\/1481\/alumni\/magazine.aspx?sid=1481\u0026amp;gid=21\u0026amp;pgid=6157\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Alumni Magazine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe time is the fall of 1963. I was a Rat Cap freshman,\u0026nbsp;and like all the other guys\u2014there were only 12 female students at the time \u2014 I was merely trying to survive at Tech. I had done well in high school and had walked on campus with a self-image only slightly smaller than the Goodyear blimp. But six weeks later, I was fighting for my college life, with the heretofore unknown phrase \u201cacademic probation\u201d having found its way into my vocabulary.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELike most kids back then I had very little money \u2014 I was on a $1-a-day budget. But unlike most other kids, I had no family in this country. My father was an Army officer, and my family was living in South Korea. I would not see them for two-and-a-half years and would share only one scratchy phone call with them in all that time. I lived across town in Morningside with my grandparents, riding the No. 16 Noble bus to and from classes. Living away from campus meant I had almost zero after-class friends and no social life at all. It was not a happy time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne Friday evening, I had just finished a lab, and was crossing the park in front of the Admin Building on my way to the bus stop on West Peachtree Street. It was a beautiful evening. The old-growth trees that sentineled the park were changing color, there was a nip in the air, and the illuminated Tech Tower put an early evening glow over the whole scene. It was a beautiful venue, but difficult to enjoy because I was completely by myself, completely on my own, no joy in sight.\u0026nbsp;I had never felt lonelier in my life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe park is crisscrossed with two walks, and in 1963 a sundial (now gone\u2014I know not why) stood at the intersection. I stopped at that intersection, looked around and began thinking. \u201cI know we\u2019ve gotta pay our dues in this world,\u201d I said to myself. \u201cBut I\u2019ll be glad when this part is over, \u2019cause it isn\u2019t much fun right now.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough still only 18 years old, I had already begun making big life promises to myself \u2014 so big I would officially number them \u2014 that I vowed to keep no matter what. I had made two thus far and would eventually make six total during my lifetime. That evening I made Promise No. 3: \u201cSomeday I will stand on this exact spot and will be as happy then as I am sad this night.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI gave the scene one last look, took a deep breath, and headed for the bus stop.\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe years came and the years went, and happiness \u2014 underwritten in no small part by a successful Tech experience \u2014 supplanted many times over the sadness of that evening. But I never forgot those minutes alone by the sundial.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd now, whenever my bride of 45 years and I return to campus, we always visit the crosswalk. I gaze upon the same trees that had quietly watched over the solitary freshman that night, and then I proclaim in a voice triumphant, \u201cI told you I\u2019d do it! I told you I\u2019d do it!\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI smile at my bride and say, \u201cDarlin\u2019, assume the position.\u201d She does. I plant a big, ol\u2019 smooch on her lips and fulfill a promise made 50-plus years ago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo I hereby propose a new Tech tradition: Kissing at the Crosswalk. Whenever you and your sweetheart visit the spot, stop and have a warm thought for each other and for all the things the Institute has made possible in your lives. Tell your sweetheart, \u201cDarlin\u2019 assume the position,\u201d and then exchange an industrial-strength kiss. If we do this right, we can add yet another tradition to the many that cloak our alma mater \u2014 and we can teach all those young folks a thing or two about smooching!\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStephen C. Hall, a member of the Ivan Allen College and the namesake of the Stephen C. Hall building at Georgia Tech, published a piece in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtalumni.org\/s\/1481\/alumni\/magazine.aspx?sid=1481\u0026amp;gid=21\u0026amp;pgid=6157\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Tech Alumni Magazine\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;about his undergraduate experience at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Stephen C. Hall, a member of the Ivan Allen College and the namesake of the Stephen C. Hall building at Georgia Tech, published a piece in the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine about his undergraduate experience at Georgia Tech."}],"uid":"28513","created_gmt":"2016-03-09 17:28:20","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:01","author":"Daniel Singer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"98391":{"id":"98391","type":"image","title":"Colonel Stephen C. Hall","body":null,"created":"1449178142","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:29:02","changed":"1475894712","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:12","alt":"Colonel Stephen C. Hall","file":{"fid":"193941","name":"stephen_hall100x150.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stephen_hall100x150_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stephen_hall100x150_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":26905,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/stephen_hall100x150_0.jpg?itok=NGiy3CA8"}}},"media_ids":["98391"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"19291","name":"Colonel Stephen C. Hall"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003EDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E404.894.1720\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Erebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}