Dorm Life... and the Perils of Acidic Paper and Crazy Cutting

I previously shared the schedules that I made to keep track of my college classes in 1990-1993. It's fun looking back at them, both to reminisce about the classes I took but also to see my handwriting and artistic style 30+ years ago. 

Today I'm sharing something else from the same era. I kept a "Cindy is:" sign on my dorm room door with a push pin that always showed where I was. They sell similar things for teachers nowadays. Anyway, my friends (and strangers, now that I think about it) could find out at a glance if I was in the room, at class, asleep or studying, at the Dining Commons, on campus, in town, at my parents' house, at a 4-H meeting, or somewhere else. In an era before cell phones, this was actually an important way to track down people we needed to find.  

This was on my door (523 Malcolm Hall, UC Davis) during the 1990-1991 school year. 

Unfortunately, when the year was over, I tucked it into a folder with some newspaper clippings. The acidic newspaper led to the weird stains you can see. I know better now, but in 1990 I had no idea. 

While I can blame the discoloration on newspaper acid, I am 100% to blame for the weird designs I cut into my signs. I have no idea why I thought this looked good. This sign is from 1991-1992. I was in the same dorm room, though with a different roommate. 

I think it's interesting to see how my destination options changed. I changed "here - come in!" and "asleep/studying - please knock" to "Here and in need of a distraction" and "Here, but asleep or seriously studying." No more issues with people knocking while I slept or was trying to concentrate! 

I added "On the floor (check the lounge)" and "In the Building" during my second year. That makes sense. We used the lounge on our floor for socializing, and the only TV was downstairs in the common room. I also added "In Sacramento" to my list. I don't remember going to Sacramento at all as a freshman, but apparently went at least occasionally as a sophomore. 

It's really fun looking back on these. I always enjoy a stroll down Memory Lane.