Chapter 4: College

50 North Ninth St.

In April, Dad had scouted around San Jose State and found an eight-plex apartment with six units that would be empty by May 22. Dad rented all six units. He also put a reservation on a seventh unit when it came available June 1. They were one-bedroom and small, but they were close to San Jose State University, low cost and comfortable. The owner had built them for graduate students. We had to provide furnishings. The bedrooms were so small they could only have regular double beds. Dad, Adam, Katie and Josh each drove a van and helped with the setup. The seventh unit was set up as a meeting room and study hall, with just tables and chairs.

We got all moved in and Josh bought pizza, salad and sodas for our first San Jose meal. After dinner we gave Dad, Adam, Katie and Josh goodbye hugs and waved at them as they drove back to Graton. Abe and Willamina called us all to their apartment. Inside they unfurled a banner which boldly proclaimed, "Graton South."

We all laughed and proudly hung the banner on the second story railing. I hated to rain on our parade, but we had registration tomorrow at 8:30 AM so I called bed time. We all hugged and went to our separate apartments.

San JoseStateUniversity

San Jose State University was really close. The Engineering department was actually on Eighth St. at San Fernando St. That was one block south of Santa Clara St. We were one-half block north of Santa Clara St. The Student Union was two blocks south on Ninth St. The big hike was Mc Donald's all the way across campus at Third and San Carlos St. eight blocks away. We were lucky that at Tenth and Santa Clara there was a great shopping district.

The next morning we all headed to the Student Union and registration. All went well and we all got the classes we needed. Mary/Fran winked at me. I later found out Mary and the WE had pulled some strings.

We went to the book store and bought our books. Then we went to the Engineering building to locate our classes. Almost all of our classes would be lab classes. The WE had given us the scholastic information. The first week we would be a challenging thirty scholastic classes. Here is what a normal four year student would study.

BS - Aviation

The curriculum provides a four-year pattern of course work for those interested in the several different aspects of aviation. Upon completion of the required coursework in general education, aviation, science and business, the student has the opportunity to choose one of four options - Operations, Aviation Management, Avionics, or Maintenance Management. Aviation graduates are employed in such positions as flight, airport management, purchasing, marketing, quality control, aviation management, technical management and military aviation. The curriculum provides an excellent background for the professional pilot.

We were to specialize in Avionics.

We went back to the Student Union. While there Kit saw a sign over a door that said, "UNASA." We made a beeline there. Inside we found a recruiter and information desk. As we approached, the staff lady at the information desk looked at us. Her name tag said she was Captain Marshal.

All of a sudden her eyes got as big as saucers. She stood and saluted. We all looked around for some brass, but only we were the only ones in the room. Then Mary/Fran saluted back. We had forgotten that Mary/Fran was the WE representative to the UN. Captain Marshal ushered us all into a conference room behind her desk. Mary/Fran introduced us all and asked that all UN personnel please treat her as any other student. She asked what Captain Marshal's first name was. Captain Marshal finally relaxed. Her name was Janet. Mary asked if she could help us get enrolled in the UNASA astronaut training program. She showed us a quick video on astronaut training.

This is the information she shared:

How can I become an astronaut? From NASA!

Any adult man or woman in excellent physical condition who meets the basic qualifications can be selected to enter astronaut training. For mission specialists and pilot astronauts, the minimum requirements include a bachelor's degree in engineering, science or mathematics from an accredited institution. Three years of related experience must follow the degree and an advanced degree is desirable. Pilot astronauts must have at least 1,000 hours logged in jet aircraft, and they need better vision than mission specialists. Competition is extremely keen, with an average of more than 4,000 applicants for about 20 openings every two years. Astronaut recruiting occurs periodically.

"For the Asteroid defense program they were waiving the three years of related experience, Janet said. "The educational requirements are stiffer. You have to have a 3.75 GPA or better in all subjects."

We all looked at each other. Mary/Fran smiled. I gripped Cynthia's hand and she returned the grip. Mary then told Janet she was in the presence of "the Graton Squadron." Janet was not impressed "That only meant that if we really wanted to stay together we really needed to be a team," she said, "The first challenge for the team would be to pass all the core classes while keeping up the GPA on the lab classes."

"Are you pilots?" Janet asked. I assured her that we all had pilot's licenses. She then asked about jet experience. I explained that we did not have actual jet experience but had all successfully logged one hundred hours in a F16C simulator "I will be setting an F-16 schedule for you at Moffett Field," she said. "You have to have those one thousand hours of jet flight. It looks like you have a tiger by the tail. If you are successful you will need to spend every hour you are not sleeping or eating in some sort of study. And you will all have to exercise at least two hours a day." Janet then suggested we get dinner and start studying, we had two challenges tomorrow. We had one at 10:00 AM and one at 12:00Noon.