Bettie Bass '77

 

How did you decide Longwood was the school for you?

I applied to Longwood, James Madison, and Radford University and I got into all three of them. I chose Longwood for three reasons. The first one is that I wanted to be a teacher and Longwood was known for that. The second one is that it was far enough away from my house but at the same time close enough to it. And the third reason was that I just felt at home at Longwood. Farmville is very similar to my hometown so that really was what made it feel right.

Did you start working at Longwood right away? If not what were you doing before and what made you want to come back to Longwood?

I taught at a school for about 4 and a half years and it just started to not be a good fit anymore. After I stopped I floundered around a little and landed in retail and really liked it. I moved my way up the chain in management and stayed with retail for 20 years. I was transferred to Indianapolis for about 5 years and was done living there and just wanted to come back to Virginia. I had kept in touch with Karen Schinabeck who worked here in the Financial Aid office and called her one day and jokingly asked her if there were any jobs at Longwood and she said actually there is one and it's in my office, you should apply.

How have students changed over the years?

Students have become more independent than they were back in the 70's. Otherwise students are the exact same!

If you had to pick your favorite memory of your time hear at Longwood what would it be and why?

It's between two. The first would have to be my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. The reason I pick that is because I stayed in contact with 4 of them and we are still very close to this day. We get together a couple times a year and just go to the beach or something and it's always a lot of fun. The secondis working on all the great activities that were offered through the Student Union organization – there was always something to do on campus for those of us not going home on the week-end.

If you could relive a memory at Longwood what would it be?

I have two. First is probably the dining hall. It used to be family style and every year you would pick a table with 7 of your friends and that's where you sat all year. Dinner was at 6 and lunch was at 12 and that's when everyone ate there weren't time blocks for each meal like there is now. Also, our birthday dinners were the best -  we had steaks and all kinds of good things like a real birthday dinner. And the other is the mixers we used to have in Lower dining area which is now where Blackwell is. They were just big dances and they were always so much fun.

Everyone has a favorite professor, who was yours?

It would have to be Dr. Marvin Scott. He was my botany professor. He still comes around campus from time to time.

What is a change that you have noticed on campus?

Probably that students don't congregate like they used to. Now you see students with their suitemates or roommate or a few of the sorority or fraternity brother s and sisters. But back when I was here we would sit in the student union and sit around till we had a big enough group to go do something and not everyone would know everyone but maybe had just seen them around campus. We made our own little groups and it was a great way to meet new people!  I just don't see that anymore.

What is some advice to give to upcoming graduates?

To really enjoy this last semester! Longwood was hands down the best four years of my life so just really enjoy it.