You know your old when invited to attend a Centennial Celebration at the College you Graduated from 31 years ago!

Out of the blue (sort of, I’ll explain shortly) I got an invitation to write about my experiences while on the staff of Fullerton College’s student newspaper, The Hornet, and an alumni invite for the 2013-14 year!

Bob Jensen, Dean of Fine Arts, at Fullerton College, commented on my column (in the T-S Topix forum) last Sunday. He asked if I’d like “to write a piece about my time at Fullerton College (class of 1979) – especially your Hornet staff member experiences.”

After carefully considering the request, I threw my hat in the ring and said okay today.  Since then, I’ve been rooting around and found my “stream book” of articles/columns that I wrote. I couldn’t help chuckling when I looked at the gnarly feet I used instead of my mug shot next to my first column “As It Stands.”

Here’s some history:

Fullerton College is the oldest continuously operating community college in California. Today, this two year college (left) offers a comprehensive array of academic programs with 90 majors leading to the A.A. or A.S. degree in both academic and vocational subjects, as well as 68 programs leading to vocational certificates.

A 1913 department of post-graduate studies at Fullerton High School first established Fullerton Junior College (right) and was the genesis of what is today the North Orange County Community College District.

By 1922, the Board of Trustees of the high school had come to view the "junior college" (below) courses as serving not only students who wanted to transfer to four-year institutions, but also those who could benefit from cultural or vocational training beyond that offered in high school.

In the spring of that year, Fullerton Junior College was organized as a separate district college, although it continued to share with the Fullerton Union High School District a Board of Trustees and many administrators.

 In 1934, the first increment of the present Fullerton College campus was acquired and a development plan was adopted. Much of the detailed Spanish-style construction (seen here) was completed with federal funding as a means of providing Depression-era employment. In 1936, the college moved its classes from Fullerton High School into its new facilities across the street.

For current information about Fullerton College click here.