AFTER that first extremely awkward day of meeting all of my teachers and getting razzed by more classmates, the next week was occupied with studying, playing at home(flute, drums, singing, and a bit of guitar) and caring for my dog and 2 cats who had become, to me at least, my family.

I hadn't had the joy of having children with Les, as my fear of giving them the diabetes I had postponed it indefinitely, and I hadn't found out until Les had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer that my future child, or children, wouldn't be affected by it. I adored children, and saw myself having them someday, but not anytime soon. for obvious reasons.

During the second week of classes, the work began to get quite challenging, and we were given our first thesis assignment, as well as our first demo tape due for production class. Both teachers had divided up the classes into pairs by lottery, and I drew the same name, a "C. Hanson". GREAT, I thought sarcastically to myself, what if this "C" person and I (I didn't even know if it was a girl, or worse, a BOY)don't get along? Then what? I felt pretty hopeless to get through the year, never mind my entire course of study at this point as I walked, dragging my feet, into my Lit class.

Professor Walworth addressed us. "Class I must ask that you remain with your partners for the rest of the semester and remain as "research buddies" for the entire course of this class. I ask now that chosen partners join each other now as this will be your permanent seating for the year." I got up and walked over to ask who this person was, as I still didn't know anybody. As I did, the tall young man who make me so comfortable that first day came over with the large, burly man and sat down in the 2 seats next to mine. As the slight, young man looked over at me, he smiled a glowing, genuine smile of relief as my professor pointed towards the two of them and said "My dear, you have your answer in the two seats to your left." I shook my head and sat down, still confused as to why I had two partners instead of just one.

I looked over at the young man, smiled, stuck my hand out to him , and said "Im Jenna, nice to meet you, and YOU too" as I offered the burly guy a handshake as well. After I shook hands with the young man, he said "My name is Clarke Hanson, but I prefer to be called Ike or Isaac. I like my middle name MUCH better than my first." I replied to him "I think I like Isaac better than Ike, it reminds me of dead presidents, the Ike name, that is." He then introduced me to the burly man, who really didn't say much. His name was Paul. "You know, he's not really a member of this class. He just hangs out with me for protection" I couldn't help but laugh. I mean, what's this skinny guy got to have a bouncer for? Do the people around here dislke him THAT much? He seemed pretty down to earth and normal to me, so I shrugged it off and settled down to listen to the lecture that had just begun.

When I got to my production class, I already knew who my partner was and I was somewhat relieved to find out that he was a guitarist, so the demo project, I felt, would be a piece of cake. As the class ended, Isaac asked the question,"Does this project heve to be just the pair as performers as well, or can we bring in outside musicians?" The teacher said that no more than two outside players could be used, and when Isaac said "That's perfect!" I was lost as to what we were going to do, but by the look on his face, I could tell that he KNEW.

After the class was dismissed, I walked over to him and said "So, who do you know that plays besides these torture artists? I am so out of the musical loop that I haven't even BOUGHT a CD in the last 3 years at least, and I don't know of anybody that could help us out. I take, Mr. Hanson, that you do?" He started laughing hysterically, which made my laugh too until I realized that he hadn't answered my question yet. I grabbed him squarely by the shoulders and said "Well Mr. I-AM-ALREADY-A STAR, YEAH RIGHT..........who?" He stopped laughing and looked me RIGHT in the eyes. It was then that I noticed that his were brown, appealingly uneven, and showed more soul and feeling than I had ever experienced in my life, and I quickly broke the intense stare out of an almost too personal fear that was welling up inside of me that I couldn't explain. "You'll see, You will DEFINITELY see." he said as we walked down the hall together, Mr. Burly Pal behind us just by just a few steps. I thought to myself, that this was going to definitely be a learning experience NEVER to be forgotten, and it scared me. It was going to be something I'd never dealt with before, something new to be sure, and I smiled as he took my books and we strolled out of the building and into the bright, clear skies of a gorgeous fall day.