Nope, that ain’t a typo for the title. It is an acronym. It stands for Oklahoma Panhandle State University. It is located in Goodwell, OK. I have been through Goodwell, OK numerous times in the past decades. I have hauled kids to metropolis’s such as Miami, Manhattan, Clarendon, Wilburton, etc. But, until now I have never hauled kids to Panhandle State. I have now.
(disclaimer)This is not a post making fun of this institution. NOT AT ALL. Some of my absolute favorite people are alumni of OPSU. I actually encourage kids to take a look at this school. Even more so now.
Growing up in late 80’s Shattuck, America, the common joke about Panhandle State was that there was a good looking girl behind every tree. One thing that I recently noticed was that there were more trees on campus than I expected. Hunh?!
Another common joke was: Panhandle State–where the men are men and the women are too. That doesn’t fit in today’s time. Anymore, sometimes, it’s just hard to tell. Currently, I would actually say it is harder to tell on some of the bigger name campuses. Of course, I do remember this line: Panhandle State–where the men are men and the sheep are nervous. We’ll get back to this.
We hauled about 35 Shattuck FFA members to the interscholastics contests. We brought home a lot of hardware. But, we didn’t win much. The common number was 2, as in the crops team–2nd, ag communications–2nd, electricity team–2nd, ag shop–2nd and livestock–you guessed it–2nd. And for you smart asses out there, yes, there were way more than 2 teams in each division.
Then there was the public speaking contest–yes, we also had the 2nd overall speaker. AND-the 1st place overall public speaker. The winners of the big 6 speech divisions have to speak in front of the crowd. They then pick a top 3 overall public speakers. Shattuck had 3 of the final 6. Duke had to speak in the finals. I love watching kids speak in public. He did well. Just not as good as some wicked good girls but he was way better than the other males in the finals. It was a really good trip.
There were teams from numerous states. The parking lot was full of buses. I just wasn’t prepared to get home and finish chores about 1 am. There was a time when 1 am didn’t hurt much. Now….dragging donkey….the next day….without any good stories.
And while I was there, I remembered articles from newspapers and magazines from back in the early 90s. There was a publication, whose founder recently passed, that ranked Oklahoma State University as the #1 party school from 1990 to 1992. 3 time National Champions. I would bet that title is more legit than that 1945 national football title that they are claiming now. Speaking of disclaimers—Mom, it is pure coincidence that I was at Okie State from the fall of 89 to the spring of 93.
That magazine would list the top 40 party schools and why they were ranked. I remember the reasons for #1, #10 and #40. #1–included Joe’s week and some other stuff that I vaguely remember. #10 was Panhandle State University—A bunch of cowboys, middle of no man’s land, some livestock, etc.–sounds fun. #40 was ou—description—only included on this list because norman is only an hours drive to Stillwater.
For a small college, this school continues to produce. I don’t know how many rodeo national championships but I do know that they currently hold the title. And I bet their national titles are way more economical as compared to Ok State and ou.
As I do when I am bored, I read….pamphlets, newspapers, web articles, bathroom walls, maybe even a stupid blog, whatever. While reading an OPSU pamphlet, I noticed that they give $4 million in scholarships, each year. Their enrollment is 1,148 students. Do the math. Yes, you can use the calculator on your phone. That comes to almost $3,500 per student in scholarships each year. Now, let’s figure that at most higher learning institutions, at least half of the students are borderline dip shits. That rapidly moves that figure to $7,000 per year. Now, take into consideration a good student with a good resume, work ethic and attitude—people, that kid has a chance to get college paid for. Why would you NOT go there? NO student loans to payoff. You would already be ahead of most current college graduates. And they have several degree areas that they can boast a 100% job placement rate in your degree area. Granted, it may not be the job that you wanted, but a job is a job. If you take that job and do a GOOD job, you will get a better job. It’s the American way. As screwed up as our society is, if a kid can get college paid for, build a resume, develop a social network, have fun, graduate AND get a job in their desired career field–DUDE! they are WAY ahead of most, if not all! RUfSM?! $$$$ make sense!
OPSU has a drawing area from Albuquerque to Denver to Wichita to OKC to Amarillo. That is a helluva land mass with very few people. Look at a map (who does that anymore?) It’s all about the same driving distance. In this part of the world, a degree from OPSU may mean more than a degree from an Ivy league school, or even a Big 12 school such as Tech, OSU or OU. It means you are real world. One of Tammy’s favorite nieces is a current student at OPSU (and she has a pile of scholarship money) While roaming the halls, I found a pic of Tom Lamle from the ’84 livestock judging team. Nice mustache! I think Jeffy Spake must have photo-shopped that 70s porn stache onto your mugshot.
Have a good day and a better tomorrow. I’m going to. You should do the same.
