Comin’ Back to University of Windsor 53 years later
Baby Bonus Bought the Beer. Canadian Pension Keepin’ the Windsor Suds Flowing
"OMG, or however the young people say it these days, time is running out on me. I have got two weeks to figure out what I should wear to the first day of Frosh Week at Windsor U this semester. As an aging part-time student, I feel a real Day One need to blend in with my new classmates, even though most will be 50 years my juniors.
Even though I'm most likely the oldest part-timer here, I am not the only boomer looking in the closet this week for suitable chillin’ clothes. At Windsor, retirees coming back to school is gaining traction.
I came back three years back, but because of Covid, all of my classes in the first two years, were online, and all my classmates were simply icons on the screen (I was a cartoon of Mick Jagger). Last September 2020, was the first time I stepped inside a Windsor University classroom since the early 70s.
"Will I be able to find my classroom? Should I wear aftershave, or is a strong stink prohibited? Starbucks or Tim Hortons in a take-out cup? But my biggest concern: what should I wear?"
I checked in with the experts for advice on first day finery. "Go casual, man. Blue Jeans are pretty much what we wear," recommended Steve Jancev, an Administrator with the Organization of Part-Time University Students (OPUS). "It is very 'cosz' here, my man!"
I had just the pair - faded, with the knees seriously missing - and under my seriously faded jean shirt, a black Tee.
Staring at myself in the mirror before catching the University bus to campus, I figured I looked just about the same (minus the shoulder-length hair and the 28” waist) as I did in September 1969 when my mother dumped me and my army-style duffle bag in front of the Mac Hall Residence, and roared back to Renfrew on the newly completed 401 highway hoping that I suddenly would change my mind.
Those were the days, my friends. We thought they'd never end. Festive times, with Woodstock having ended a few weeks before. We all said we had gone, but none of us did. Draft dodgers were everywhere; Vietnam was not going well for America. I was given a badge to wear that said, 'Windsor U is a False Assumption.' Just five years before, the place was called Assumption University of Windsor and was run by the Basilian Fathers.
I met my wife a few months after school started, even though I probably hadn't taken off those ripe '69 jeans. She took a picture of me in my better-smelling 2022 pants.
Nowadays, there is a fine fashion line between urban chic and street rags. Judging by the giggles of the young student I begged to take me to my classroom in Dillon Hall, he said as he opened the door that I was looking very 'Street.' It was not a compliment.
The look hasn't hidden my advanced years. Everyone, and I mean everyone, from the professors who can't stop themselves from calling me "sir," to the laughing students, the cafeteria staff (who throw me free pity-pickles), and even the transit drivers who make the bus kneel when picking me up on Tecumseh Road, instantly know I am the oldest male student on campus.
There is a certain irony for me in returning to Windsor. Back in 1969, I cashed my Baby Bonus cheques every month to pay for my wife's draft beers and pickled eggs at the late great Bridge House bar. And now? We have used my senior citizen cheques (actually direct deposits) to pay for beers at the DH.
Apparently, I am not the only age-challenged student slogging it out (believe me, it is not easy going) at the university. Senior citizen part-timers are showing significant interest in coming back.
"It depends year to year, semester to semester. After 65, tuition is free. More seniors and individuals with second careers are reconsidering returning to the university. It's the time commitment and the purpose towards obtaining their degree that brings them back," said Christopher Baillargeon, President of OPUS. "It is hard to predict, but I would expect that 1 in 10 part-time students will fall into this age demographic, either as lifelong learners or individuals who wish to fulfill a lifelong dream."
So, back to my wardrobe choice for September 8th? I found a Chicken Court delivery man's shirt. It was a winner, but it didn't fit (think flying buttons). Hope the weather holds up – going with what I wore on Day 2 last year – a jean shirt and shorts. Laugh all you want; don't think I will notice, not hearing so well these days.
Article appeared on editorial page of the Windsor Start Sept 2, 2023
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