Carol Childs

Review of Georgia Tech

My Dad graduated from Tech in 1922. When I graduat...

My Dad graduated from Tech in 1922. When I graduated from Columbus Hi in 1953 I didn't have a clue as to what I wanted to study in college. My Dad said "you're going to Tech" The freshman orientation speech included the phrase " Look at the man on your left and right. Only one of you will be here at graduation. He was right . I was in the 2/3 rds who didn't make it. But I gave it a hella an effort. From the first I struggled. I was on probation one quarter, off the next. Very stressful. Two consecutive quarters on probation and you were OUT. I managed to last until the1st quarter of my junior year. Then physics did me in. I remember sitting in physics class and thinking to myself, no way am I ever going to understand this. ( electricity) . I knew it was all over for me. I was probably the most miserable person in the US. I wanted to just get up and leave but my pride wouldn't let me.

I did a brief stint at UGA in Forestry. Another bad career choice for me. Then Georgia State. At last I hit the right major. I went from the Dean's list at Tech ( the one you did not want to be on) to the one you did want to be on. Those 2 + years at Tech were a great preparation for any future studies.

I checked " loved it" above but it was a bittersweet experience. I loved being a Tech student. That "T" on my car window was a source of pride to me. Do I wish I had graduated from Tech ? Yes but it was not meant to be.
I loved the Ramblin Wreck parade. My favorite entry was the wagon pulled by a Rat. The wagon had a bedpan filled with lemonade and and baby ruth candy bars. Every now and then the Rat would take sip of the lemonade and a bite of a baby ruth. Priceless. I loved the pep rally which got out of hand and resulted in the students ( mostly freshman with their art caps on) marching on the Fox theature. We crashed the entry and lined up in the aisles singing I'm a Ramblin Wreck. I later got picked up by the police as 4 of us lifted a VW beatle up on the sidewalk. They put me in the police car and followed the "rioters" for a while. Then they drove me back to the campus. Nice guys.

Georgia State was nothing like that. A very serious hardworking group with no college shenanigans.
That was what I needed at that time. ( I don't mean to imply that Tech students weren't hardworking. You didn't stay at Tech if you weren't) At that time Ga State was still primarily a night school but was transitioning to offering a chance for full time students. Ga State's history includes Tech The original name was The Georgia Tech Evening School of Commerce. Later the Atlanta Division of the University of Georgia. Then Georgia State College of Business Administration. Now Georgia State University.

I'm very grateful for those bittersweet years at Tech. I wouldn't change it even if I had known then what the outcome would be.

One final comment. Robert E Lee Dodd is a legend . However I will never forgive him for taking Tech out of the SEC

Dodd was the coach at Tech then and Wally Butts was the coach at Georgia.
Hence the motto " In Dodd we trust to beat Georgia's Butts
I loved being in the grandstands watching the likes of Pepper Rodgers, Leon Hardeman Billy Teas, the Morris brothers etc.