This is the first in a series of “GO WYO” license plates that adorned my cars – back when I lived in the States and when I owned cars. Follow up license plates were in Indiana, “The Crossroads of America” plate and the exceptionally ugly “www.IN.gov” plate that was issued later in my Indiana-time.
To say that the University of Wyoming had a big impact on my life would be an understatement.
Why I chose U-Dub remains a mystery to me – I lack a certain direction in my life, making half-assed decisions at every turn. Objectively speaking, many of the decisions that I’ve made in my life have been incredibly poorly informed – yet most of the time I’ve come out OK. Meeting people, having experiences, and moving ahead in ways that were unpredictable – and unforeseeable.
UWyo is one of those things: I was a city kid moving to a rural state; a liberal moving to the heart of (decent) conservatism; and lacking legitimate direction for what I wanted to do with my life.
Regardless, Laramie became my home for six years, seeing me through my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees – both of which have provided me options for life, options that have allowed me to make stupid decisions with a safety net.
It was Wyoming where I came to appreciate academic environments and what makes research universities special. Further, Wyoming is a special place: as a small research university, I had direct access to full professors as a freshmen – something that does not happen as regularly at bigger universities like Indiana University – where, and they will hate me for saying this, freshmen are just a number.
I got the license plate because I believe in the mission of the University of Wyoming – and because I want its sports teams to do as well as possible. The plate adorned my Camry until I moved to Indiana. When I see it on my wall, it reminds me of my times in Laramie.
During the Covid-19 crisis, I am going to try and make a point of writing a blog post about an object in my home.
We’ll see how long this lasts.