A Highly Qualified Candidate

When I applied to Hampshire College in 1983, I felt I was a highly qualified candidate. Most of my education prior to Hampshire was in ungraded open education. I was accustomed to evaluation based courses, and I was extremely self motivated. By the time that I entered Hampshire, in addition to my classroom education, I had spent summers apprenticing a sculptor, I had taught myself assembly language computer programming, and I had trained for and ridden my bicycle from New Jersey to California.

My Hampshire College Application

The application for Hampshire College required a personal essay, accompanied by either an artistic portfolio, a piece of creative writing, or an example of scientific work that a person had done. I submitted all three.

My Artistic Portfolio

For my artistic portfolio, I provided slides of my artwork, including images of a stained glass window commission that I had completed, selections from my wheel thrown and sculptural ceramics, and two pieces of my bronze sculpture that I thought were particularly successful.

My Published Fiction

For my creative writing sample, I included one of my published pieces of short fiction, as well as references to others.

Technical Stock Analysis written in Assembly Language

Finally, for my scientific work, I included a well documented computer program for technical stock analysis, although later it occurred to me that there was probably no one on staff at the admissions office qualified to evaluate my code.

Leaving for Hampshire College

When I had visited the Hampshire campus, I had learned about the school newspaper, and before I left my parents home, I had written outlines and drafts of articles that I wanted to publish there. I packed my training bicycle, my computer, some art supplies, and some books and clothing into my car and I entered Hampshire in the fall of 1983.

A Very Focused Student

I lost almost no time at Hampshire in what was called, “Creative Floundering” and signed up for a full course load from the beginning. I had chosen Hampshire as the place I wanted to graduate from. I knew why I was there and I knew what I needed to do.

The Hampshire College Disregard for Students

Despite my drive, commitment, and focus, Hampshire College would see to it that I would never graduate from their program.