11 years ago this month I was taking a Civil War history class at Duke and we took a quasi-mandatory field trip to the Gettysburg battlefield. The class was half southern frat boys reliving the glory of the capital S South and half history majors who wanted to learn more about, you know, American history. I made a D on the midterm exam because I struggled with - among other things - drawing out battle plans like our instructor wanted us to...where the confederate army was at the beginning and end of the battle for Vicksburg, for example. Who needs to know this?!? Me, apparently. And then then Gettysburg trip. I drove my rugby teammate Jessica, another history nerd who we were kind of friends with, the girl that nerd was flirting with...and my professor. Yes, that's right, my professor rode in the backseat for the six hour drive from North Carolina to southern Pennsylvania. My professor and I became friends on that trip and I experienced my first blatant case of grade inflation: after that D on the midterm, a solid paper + a sold final exam + a weekend of fun in Gettysburg = a solid A for the course. I didn't ask questions.
When we were in Gettysburg with the frat boys, we stopped at the high water mark of the confederacy (Pickett's charge resulted in the farthest north the confederate army made it during the war). Our professor made us reenact Pickett's charge and then the frat boys shotgunned a beer there. You read that right. Shotgunned a beer.
Today I am in Gettysburg again! I'm here visiting Gettysburg College and two other liberal arts colleges in central Pennsylvania as part of a tour for college counselors. We took a short tour of the battlefield today. Disappointingly - but not surprisingly - no one shotgunned a beer at the high water mark of the confederacy this time.
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