
There I was, in the Admissions office, going down the list of requirements that were necessary to gain acceptance into Keiser University.
“We’ll need your High School transcripts,” Doreen, my Admissions counselor said.
“I don’t have them.” I said.
“We can accept a copy.”
“I don’t have them. I do have my yearbook…will that do?” I thought having my picture in the senior yearbook would suffice to show that I was a 1968 high school graduate. After all, I look exactly the same as when I was 17, right?
Evidently, that isn’t enough to satisfy the registration demons, so today I must call my old high school and request my school transcripts. I’m happy to say that the high school still exists and has not been declared a historical monument…yet. I’m very curious as to what a copy of my original transcripts will look like.
In 1968, teachers didn’t have computers to track their student’s grades. They had what was termed “The Hell Book” by students such as myself, but were actually called “grade books” by our instructors.

The instructor would use a pen and mark down your attendance, your participation grade (this grade was usually based on your ability not to snore in class), your homework grades (including the 0’s for the one’s the dog ate) and of course, your test grades. At the end of each marking period, the teachers would then average your total and again record it on your Report Card!
In elementary school, we got A’s, B’s, C’s, etc. In high school, much like today, you got a number that represented your total grade. Anything in the high 80’s to 90’s and you would run home eagerly to show your parents. Grades in the 70’s were still respectable, but you didn’t run quite so fast to show it off.
Grades of 69 or under and you dragged your feet until it was dark and hoped your parents would forget that today was Report Card Day.
So, seeing that my transcripts were recorded for all time using a pen, I wondered how they have fared over the years.
Will they look like parchment paper found in the King’s tombs of Egypt? Will the ink have disappeared?
Will they have those special notes teachers always deemed necessary to stick on our report cards in the “Comment” sections? Snide little remarks, such as, “Mary Ellen could do much better if she would just APPLY herself!” God, I hope not! If I’m lucky, my memory will be accurate and the college will find that I was a fairly good student.
It wasn’t hard to maintain a “B” Average (I don’t know if I was a B+ or B-) for me…I was in Secretarial Course and working after school and on Saturdays in an office, so I got lots of on the job training.
Also, the majority of my subjects were based on turning me into a prim and proper secretary, complete with stenography and typing skills. (Anyone who still remembers or uses their hard won steno skills….raise your hands. Anyone?) Algebra, biology, and Latin were for the college bound kids.

Well, I do remember going to a graduation ceremony and receiving a High School Diploma…so how bad could those transcripts be? My main concern, after 45 years hibernating in the dark basement of Bassick High School, that they are still intact! We’ll see!
I imagine the phone call tomorrow could possibly sound like this.
“Good Morning, Bassick High School. How may I direct your call?” a young eager voice will ask.
“Yes, I need a copy of my High School Transcripts. Could you tell me how to get them?”
“No problem…what year did you graduate?”
“1968”
“No, really, when did you graduate?”
Sigh.
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