RamStories:
An Oral History Project to Record the CSU Experience
Austin, Jacque, Shannon, and Adam
Watch the interview: Size: 12.292 MB Duration:17 Min 39 Sec
Interviewer: "Well, this is an unorthodox.well, history: This is Janet Bishop and I'm going to be interviewing a foursome here. So we're going to have a variation from our format that we've had so far. So I'm going to state the date and time. It is almost 9:00 on Friday, the 18th of August. And CSU has just started, tonight-I don't even know what they call tonight, Fun Night?"
All: Late Night.
Interviewer: "Ok, Late Night. And there's all sorts of events going on. There's miniature golf, comedians, carnivals. But these four young people have chosen to sit down in room-what room are we in?" [Off Screen] "Room 24" "Room 24. Since we're in a row here, I'm just going to go down the row here and ask you to introduce yourself. Say your name, and your year in college, and where you're from-like, what's your hometown and stuff. So, I'll start with you, in the pink."
Shannon Buehner: "I'm Shannon, I'm a freshman from Houston, Texas."
Interviewer: "Ok, Shannon, what's your last name?"
Shannon Buehner: "Buehner."
Austin Tillack: "I'm Austin Tillack, also of Houston, Texas. We went to rival high schools together."
Interviewer: "Did you both know you were going to CSU? I mean, before you came."
Austin Tillack: "No. We only met through CSU."
Interviewer: "So, you met 2 days ago?"
Austin Tillack: "No. We met through early advising."
Interviewer: "Oh, ok."
Adam Kremers: "Adam Kremers, freshman, Kansas City."
Jacque Carnahan: "I'm Jacque Carnahan, I'm from Lyons, Colorado, and I'm a freshman."
Interviewer: "Ok, this is going to be interesting. Next question is: Tell us how you came to be friends, and how long have you known each other? We'll start with you, Shannon."
Shannon Buehner: "I met him [Adam] at preview."
Adam Kremers: "Yeah, we went to preview together."
Interviewer: "And what is preview?"
Adam Kremers: "Orientation for freshmen. And we met because we both have the same major. And then we just e-mailed each other until school started, and we walked around to our first classes."
Interviewer: "So they bring you guys out way.in July, or something?" [All agree]
Interviewer: "And does everybody come in July, or just certain select?"
Shannon Buehner: "There's like, sessions."
Austin Tillack: "There's like, 30-some sessions."
Interviewer: "So, you came all the way from Houston?"
Shannon Buehner: "I did."
Interviewer: "And then you flew back to Houston?"
Shannon Buehner: "Mm hmm."
Interviewer: "So, how did you [Austin] meet [Shannon]?"
Austin Tillack: "So we met at an early advising session in Houston, and we talked on the phone before we got here. And I met him [Adam] though her [Shannon]."
Adam Kremers: "We all walked to classes together."
Austin Tillack: "Yeah, we all walked to classes together so we didn't get lost on the big campus."
Adam Kremers: "He was a civil engineer but he's already come down."
Austin Tillack: "Yeah"
[All talking, indistinct]
Austin Tillack: "And, uh, yeah."
Interviewer: "Ok, and.Jacque?"
Austin Tillack: "We just found Jacque."
Jacque Carnahan: "They just found me, and I'm lost."
Interviewer: "What a good bonding experience."
Interviewer: "Ok, so why did you guys choose CSU? Shannon."
Shannon Buehner: "I was born in Colorado, so this is kind of home for me. I love skiing and being outdoors so."
Interviewer: "So, have you lived in Houston long?"
Shannon Buehner: "Just like, 6 years, but I've moved back and forth between Houston and Colorado several times."
Interviewer: "Ok. You, sir? [Austin]"
Austin Tillack: "I like the grass here."
Interviewer: "I see. Grass."
Austin Tillack: "Well, see, in Texas, it's really burnt and it's really not pretty. Here it's really pretty and if you want to walk barefoot on it, you can."
Adam Kremers: "My favorite color's green, so, easy choice."
Interviewer: "From Shawnee. So, were you in Fort Collins before you chose CSU?"
Adam Kremers: "No. Actually, like, right before, like, in high school, I met with my advisor and was like 'hey, uh, I need to start thinking about school.' And she was like 'Ok, so, say you go to like, Colorado State University.' and ever since she did that it was like, ah, and I just really wanted to come out here, like I heard this calling."
Interviewer: "Why did your advisor pick Colorado State?"
Adam Kremers: "It was random. Just like, completely random. It was just like 'say you pick.,' completely random."
Interviewer: "Like destiny."
Adam Kremers: "Yep, just like destiny."
Interviewer: "And you [Jacque]?"
Jacque Carnahan: "Well, my sister came here and she really liked it, so."
Interviewer: "Ok, Shannon. What do you want from your CSU experience?"
Shannon Buehner: "I just want to have fun. I want to balance the whole social part with school and everything, and just have a good time with friends."
[All laugh about something indistinct]
Austin Tillack: "I pretty much want to have the same thing. I just want to have a good time, enjoy life, and everybody says that it's the best time of your life, so you should really enjoy it, so that's what I'm going for."
Adam Kremers: "I agree. I concur."
Interviewer: " 'I concur,' ditto."
Jacque Carnahan: "I'm the same. Just meet a bunch of new people like I have tonight."
Interviewer: "I'm going to ask the Kathy question: What is your worst fear? I know, the 'bummer' question."
Shannon Buehner: "I'm scared of my classes. I have a pretty tough schedule."
Adam Kremers: "Is this [with respect to CSU], because I'm like, scared of spiders."
Interviewer: "No, this is only applicable to CSU. And [Shannon] your classes?"
Shannon Buehner: "I have like, Physics. I don't know about Physics."
Adam Kremers: "You have like, Physics, Calculus and Chemistry, all at the same time? It's like, 'What are you doing?' That's gonna be hard."
Interviewer: "Yes, partying and physics."
Shannon Buehner: "There won't be any partying."
Austin Tillack: "I think I'm most afraid of making a fool and just, embarrassing myself. Like, a huge lecture fall, and I trip. I don't know if I could handle it. I don't know if I could go back to class if that happened."
Interviewer: "Are you being facetious?"
Austin Tillack: "No, I'm honest. Like, these lecture halls are huge! I took a tour in my car, they're so big. What if you tripped and fell in the middle of a class?"
Adam Kremers: "Being at home sick, missing my family. I like my family, and I'm going to miss them."
Interviewer: "Do you have siblings?"
Adam Kremers: "Yeah. There's six in my family. I like seeing them grow up, it's always crazy there. So."
Interviewer: "So, you're the nice big brother"
Adam Kremers: "Big brother? I'm gone, so I miss them."
Jacque Carnahan: "For me, I'd probably say [that] going into the wrong classroom, because I haven't yet walked around to see where my classes are at."
Austin Tillack: "Poor answer."
Jacque Carnahan: "What if you walked into the wrong room, and everyone's staring at you?"
[indistinct talking]
Interviewer: "What was your first meal on campus like, Shannon, and what did you eat?"
Shannon Buehner: "It was dinner, last night, and I had a chicken breast on a bun, dipped in Ranch, because I like the Ranch a lot. That was good, and I had some ice-cream, and French-fries."
Interviewer: "So you ate at your dorm?"
Shannon Buehner: "Yeah, I live in Parmalee."
Interviewer: "So, you're not in one of those dorms where there's six people crammed into the same dorm?"
Shannon Buehner: "No."
Austin Tillack: "What's that about? I've never heard of that."
Interviewer: "Well, one of our narrators said that two of them are crammed into a room with six other people." [indistinct talking]
Interviewer: "Let's go back to the meals."
Austin Tillack: "The meal! I remember it vividly. Pasta, pizza, and then there was the other side which had burgers, French-fries.it was fabulous."
Interviewer: "You ate past, burgers and French-fries?"
Austin Tillack: "Yeah! All you can eat! Can you believe that? Plus you get dessert!"
Interviewer: "Ah, to be young again."
Adam Kremers: "Um, I had burgers, two cheese burgers."
Austin Tillack: "You had a double cheese burger?"
Adam Kremers: "No, two separate."
Austin Tillack: "Rookie."
Adam Kremers: "And some pickles. That's it"
Shannon Buehner: "And a cookie, right?"
Adam Kremers: ".And a cookie. Nothing exciting."
Jacque Carnahan: "I had a quesadilla. I'm gonna eat those every day now."
Interviewer: "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what were your first impressions of campus?"
[Indistinct talking and laughing]
Shannon Buehner: "Overwhelming, kind of. You know, between our dorms and stuff.it was very overwhelming. You have to meet everybody-meet you roommate and all-it was very overwhelming."
Adam Kremers: [Beginning indistinctly] "I don't know one single person here. I mean, like, in my hall. I don't know one single person in my hall." [Continues indistinctly].
Interviewer: "It's sinking in?"
Adam Kremers: "Yeah. It's sinking in."
Austin Tillack: "Yeah. It's a bit big, crowded. There's so much going on, so much commotion. Yeah, a bit overwhelming, I'd say."
Jacque Carnahan: "Um, I would probably say the same. I came from really small school, so it's a big change."
Interviewer: "Now, I'm going to interject a question: What do you think is unique about CSU, compared to Boulder?"
Shannon Buehner: "I'm not really familiar with either."
Adam Kremers: "I've only been to Boulder once."
Austin Tillack: "Less hippies."
Adam Kremers: "Well, and Boulder's more cluttered. Like, CSU's spread out. Everything in Boulder's just jammed in that one little corner. I really like how CSU has a lot of green grass and is spread out everywhere, so I really like that."
Interviewer: "Are any of you interested in like, Ag[riculture] or Biology?" All: "No."
Interviewer: "Let's hop to the existential question: What advice-or do you have advice-for your future-self? Knowing yourself now, and guessing who you'll be in 10 or 20 years."
Austin Tillack: "I'm gonna have to take a skip on this. Come back to me."
Adam Kremers: "I'll just go right now."
Austin Tillack: "It's a pretty loaded question."
Adam Kremers: "Go big or go home."
Interviewer: "Go big or go home?"
Adam Kremers: "Go big or go home-that's how I'm gonna live it. That's the advice: Go big or go home."
Interviewer: "And what does it mean?"
Adam Kremers: "Um. In every way. You know, like, not just in school but in.like, I already feel like I've gone big because I could've gone home to Ken State and stayed home with like, the high school girlfriend, and been close to home and done all that stuff, but it's like I'm already going big in a sense because I don't know one person out here. I have a lot to learn about myself, about the people I'm going to meet; about everything, and so it's like, I go big on that. I can't be a shell, be a hermit.
Interviewer: "I see. This is pushing you."
Adam Kremers: "Yeah, be open to a lot of new things." [Indistinct] "And do the best I can. Don't sell anybody short."
Interviewer: "Shannon?"
Shannon Buehner: "I pass."
Austin Tillack: "Austin, in 10 years, or 20 or 50, I hope that you're still enjoying life. I think that's my main goal in my life, just to enjoy myself. You know, I hear a lot of stories of people in their professions or whatever that, that they dread going to work or they wish they were so much better at life, and I just tell myself to enjoy life and just have fun."
Jacque Carnahan: "I'd probably just say to have fun, and to make sure that you do everything you can, because it's gonna go fast."
Shannon Buehner: "All those, put in one."
Interviewer: "Ah, but Shannon."
Austin Tillack: "Cop-out! Cop-out!"
Shannon Buehner: "Yeah, just like, have fun, work hard, be successful. Have fun! Be happy!"
Interviewer: "One observation we made is that it's a lot easier to give your past-self advise than it is to give your future-self. But if it's any consolation, you can continue to have fun with depth, and the world is always very wide. And you always have to go bigger."
Adam Kremers: "Go big or go home."
Interviewer: "Any other things that you want to contribute, to put in the time-capsule, so when you come up the steps in 50 years."
Adam Kremers: "The Royals and the Chiefs" [Indistinct] "In 50 years-next five for the chiefs, next 50 for the Royals."
Interviewer: "And do any of you yet know what major you're going to go into?"
Shannon Buehner: "I'm going to try Environmental Engineering, we'll see how that goes."
Adam Kremers: "We're both in Environmental Engineering, that's why we first met at preview."
Interviewer: "Do they pick you."
Adam Kremers: "No, we just happened to be in the same advising session." [Continues indistinctly].
Austin Tillack: "I want to be in Natural Resources and Recreational Tourism."
Adam Kremers: "He was going to be [in] civil engineering."
Austin Tillack: "I was going to be in Civil Engineering, but I didn't think I could hack it."
Adam Kremers: "He was like 'I need to enjoy life.'"
Austin Tillack: "I gotta get out."
Interviewer: "Do you ski?"
Austin Tillack: "I do.well, snowboard. Very well, I might add."
Jacque Carnahan: "I'm going to be Health and Exercise Science."
Interviewer: "And then what are you doing?"
Jacque Carnahan: "I don't know. I think I might be a teacher and coach."
Austin Tillack: "What will you coach?"
Jacque Carnahan: "Probably track."
Adam Kremers: "What will you teach?"
Jacque Carnahan: "PE."
Adam Kremers: "Physical Education?"
Jacque Carnahan: "You have a problem with that?"
Adam Kremers: "No. That's a really cool thing. I loved my PE teacher."
Interviewer: "Well, you guys have been absolutely delightful. And you've been great. Thanks for being such good sports. I think that's a wrap!"
END