It was a fascinating 2 years. While there, one of the many interesting things I did, on the side, was work with a Japanese gentleman who was writing a history of Japanese dentistry. He needed someone to "clean up" his English translation, as the 2 languages differ greatly in sentence structure and other conventions. He had a whole chapter just on toothpicks. I enjoyed the challenge.
The Helen Wood Hall building had historical charm and character when I lived in it. It had both student rooms and classrooms. The student rooms were on the top 3 floors, and were all singles, which was nice, and the heavy wooden doors had glass transoms that cranked open and substantial dark metal doorknobs like you might see today at Restoration Hardware. There was a little elevator in the lobby that had one of those accordion-type gates that opened and closed with a pleasant soft metallic sound. There was definitely a feeling of class and elegance about the place.
That's all gone now. When I was at my reunion, one of my classmates and I got a tour of the floors that used to be the student rooms. They've all now been converted to faculty offices that look monotonously and anonymously the same - little beige cubicles with none of the character or charm that we had been able to enjoy. If we had not known we were in Helen Wood Hall, there was nothing about how that area looks now that would have clued us in to our location. Might as well have been a Motel 6. We both found that rather sad.
My maternal grandmother and my mother were both nurses. My grandmother left home at 16, to go to nursing school, graduating in 1918. I have her diploma, which is in surprisingly excellent condition, and both her and my mom's nursing school pins. I cherish all of these.
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