CKAMV Forever!

For me, college was a time of self-reflection, tough classes, new discoveries, and sometimes...just plain sillyness! I probably enjoyed those last moments the most. Those times of pure, crazy, just-for-the heck-of-it fun were some of the best moments I have experienced. My university life began in the dormitories...but not just any dorm. We lived in Waneta. Now, only those from SDSU will understand why Waneta is different. It's just...that dorm. No one really chooses to live there, but for some reason, I did! I guess it was probably because that was where my sister had lived while she attended SDSU, and, knowing nothing else about the school, I chose that dorm. Little did I know that living there would change my life!

Of course, as with every new freshman living in the dorms, I quickly made a group of friends and we did EVERYTHING together. I thought they would be my close friends for the rest of my life! Although many of them have faded away, two of those girls from 1st North Waneta continue to be a major part of my life. One of them recently returned from a time living abroad, due to her husband's job with the military. I have really enjoyed reconnecting with her, and we have spent many hours, both on the phone and in the land of e-mail, reminiscing about our crazy experiences together.

While there are many fun memories...driving around in the middle of the night eating Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies-perhaps that would explain the weight gain, creating silly nicknames for random people in our lives-Pizza Man, Java City Boy, Piano Man...okay, maybe the nicknames were just for the boys, and the insane trip to North Dakota for choir, one of our favourite memories is the CKAMV.

The what? The CKAMV. The CKAMV was hatched at one of those university club hockey games that I spoke of before. As usual, we weren't really watching the game. Instead, we were talking about random things and laughing at the people around us. Somehow, the topic of mini-vans came up. Nicole mentioned that she had experienced several bad encounters with mini-vans in the past. The rest of us began adding our own comments, soon realizing how many of us hated mini-vans. In all of our sillyness, we decided to form the CKAMV-College Kids Against Minivans. I will take a moment to reassure you...we weren't really a club. Although we did assign positions-I believe Nicole was the president, I may have been the vice president, and I believe someone else took a dual role of secretary/treasurer-we did not have dues, we did not have meetings-unless you count the never ending hours we spent in the park with Katie saying "Mini-van, ten o 'clock...mini-van, 3 o 'clock"-and we never really made posters or anything, we did have a common purpose! We all vowed that we would never own a minivan. We would never contribute to the craze that seemed to be sweeping the nation.

While I realize the practicality of a minivan, and I can understand why many buy them, the ideas and laws of the CKAMV stick with me, even today. As I grow older, and watch friends grow up, have kids, and convert to the minivan cult, I can't help but wonder, "Will I always stay true to my ideals?" Someday, when I have one kid heading to soccer, one to ballet, one to piano lessons and a dog barking in the back, how can I help but join the cult? I can't, with a good conscience, see myself purchasing a gas-guzzling SUV when there is really no need for it in this land of no snow. How, though, will all of that stuff fit into a car?

I guess when I come to that bridge, I will cross it. I don't think that my husband holds the same ideals, although I have never asked him. How could I have overlooked such an important detail? I guess we will have to limit ourselves to one child and one dog, for that is probably all that will fit in the lovely Nissan Altima we currently drive. Until the day comes that I must choose...shudder...mini-van or SUV, I will continue to uphold the laws and promises of the CKAMV and fondly remember all of the silly moments in university. Perhaps we can finally find those wood-paneling ribbons we were going to use for CKAMV activism, what do you think, Nicole?