Nick Cockerell was selected as one of two Alumni Endowed Scholars at the Alumni Association’s 2013 scholarship review. An incoming freshman from Texarakana, TX, he is an honors student in J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences.
Summer has ended and I am about to begin a new chapter in my life…college! The relaxing summer I imagined after graduating from high school was anything but slow. Instead, the past eight weeks were filled with fun times, hanging out with family and friends, and of course, preparation for my big move to Fayetteville.
Fortunately, I was blessed to receive graduation money to build the perfect dorm room. Unfortunately, I had no idea how much that would cost! I was thinking truck accessories and hunting gear with my graduation cash. However, I got to buy sheets, pillows, towels, mattress covers (which the sales lady insisted I buy), and lots of plastics drawers and storage bins. It was truly painful to spend my cash on those “non-manly” dorm necessities. Who knew plastic could cost so much? We should all buy stock in the Container Store! Of course, I did save enough money to purchase an awesome basketball goal trashcan (which will make throwing trash away much more exciting), a cool razorback man cave sign and a 47 inch television. Yes, I am excited. I think my dorm room will be great.
And in case you are wondering, I did follow roommate etiquette and contact my roommate before making my dorm room selections to make sure we did not duplicate anything…except the refrigerator. Because when I opened the door of the display refrigerator at Wal-Mart, I thought, “No way, we have to have at least two of these!” Luckily, my roommate agreed. The funny thing is, when I made the call to him, we had never met. He is from Missouri, and I am from Texas so the distance between our homes made it nearly impossible to get together. But we did manage to meet in Fayetteville for lunch one day, and I think he realized why my only request was having two refrigerators. Ironically, he is also named Nick but goes by “Nicky” and is about half my size in height and weight. Again, my nickname “Big Nick” continues at college. He is really a cool guy, and I look forward to getting to know him soon.
As I started my journey to Arkansas, I had a minor mishap before I could drive away from my home and head to the hills. As I opened my truck door, I discovered my neatly pressed and organized 2XL clothes had broken the hanging rod making for a small delay in the sweltering August heat. But after the frustration of repacking my truck, I heard the encouraging sound of the Razorback Fight Song playing loud and clear from one of my packed boxes in the back of my truck. Oops, my new alarm clock was going off and will definitely need new batteries by the time I drive to Fayetteville. So, if you hear a black truck rolling down Garland playing the fight song, you will know I finally made it to my new home in the Northwest Quads! Go Hogs!
