Up The Down Staircase

I went to Anderson College to major in English. I was going to be an English teacher or a writer. My first semester was rather hard, adjusting to college life. My roommate had friends who liked practical jokes. One night, they tried to drop me down the trash chute. Another, they hung me off the dorm balcony. Another, they put my bed and desk out in the hall. The worst was one night I was asleep in bed. They yelled out my name. I woke up real fast and saw a large knife heading for my chest. The guy turned the handle at the last minute, and the handle went into my chest. This was supposed to be funny. I was hazed a lot that semester. I did have a couple of friends. One was a guy named Lenny. He was my suitemate. One afternoon, Lenny asked me if I would go with him to the school's auditorium to help him move a piano. We got there, and there was a play rehearsal going on, so we sat and watched it, and waited for it to be over so we could move the piano. A guy saw us sitting out there and asked us if we would read a couple of parts, as they had not been cast yet. We did. My part in the play was Mr. Bester. The play was "Up the Down Staircase". They liked the reading, so I was cast as Mr. Bester. It was a small role. I went to all of the rehearsals and knew most all the lines by all the other characters. On the night of the dress rehearsal, the lead male actor quit school. There was a lot of chaos around stage. The director knew me and knew my talent. His name was Mr. Vivian. He offered the part to me, and I would have two roles. The blocking was changed, so that Mr. Bester would never be seen. I cut all my classes and crammed for the lead. On opening night, the original lead actor came back to school and wanted his part. Mr. Vivian said no, that it had been recast. Thankfully, the play took place in a class, so I could use a notebook as a cheat sheet for my lines. The play went off without much trouble, although the newspaper critic said that I was at a disadvantage, as I didn't get the lead until 2 days before. The drama bug bit me an opening night. I didn't want to major in English anymore, and I switched my major to Speech and Drama. I became "Joe College". I was finally popular at school. My classmates knew my name as the talented guy. The actor. Thanks Lenny for asking me to move the piano.