(Poly 1) Back to school with a vengeance!

The GI Bill was such a history changing thing. Soon after understanding that the bill would help pay for a college education I never once thought of not going to college. Being a Pomona boy I naturally thought that Pomona College was the place to go. I went out to the campus in Claremont to sign up and go to college. I soon learned that I was not a candidate to go to Pomona College. Required were good high school grades with classes in  foreign languages and science. These were all things that I had avoided in high school, plus dropping out to go in the Army. My courses in high school were stage crew, cooking, and drama. Anything with out books. I was advised to go to Junior College and take all the required courses.

Cal Poly was located in San Luis Obispo, Jackie's home town. Her childhood home with her grandparents was there. I checked in with the admissions office  at Poly. I was surprised to hear that they would sign up anyone. You just had to be warm. I was told not to worry about my high school scholastic history. They would give me high school make up classes. My first quarter I took high school english, chemistry, physics, and algebra. What a deal!

Plus it was pleasant small school, all male. About 2500 students, I think. The student body, male and female, is now near 20,000. The administration building and a dozen other buildings were nice stucco buildings with red tile roofs. Cal Poly is a A & M College and had a lot of agricultural buildings and livestock. Poly emphasized "learn by doing". There were lots of shop buildings. When the ex GIs started pouring in they put in surplus Quonset huts for class rooms.

With an all male student body, and most of them ex GIs, the atmosphere was a lot like more Army.

A very big plus was the news that Cal Poly was installing housing for married students. Only 2 colleges on the West Coast did that. They moved in war time huts from the Navy Base at Port Hueneme. They moved in many small house trailers. Jackie and I were early in line and ended up in a two bedroom hut after Nancy was born. Nancy was born around 9 months after my discharge from the Army. She is a real boomer.