She Made Me a Mix Tape

Towards the end of my college years, I was slacking a bit. In my program, taking two general education classes of your choice was mandatory – and so was passing them to earn your diploma. I found the classes to be unnecessary, but paid the price in the end after I failed two of them and had no other choice but to re-do them if I wanted to get my diploma. So after my course was done, I had the option of taking two gen-ed classes during the summer. They offered the classes two days a week, during the evening and at an accelerated pace, so it would be a lot faster than taking them during a regularly scheduled semester.

I was taking two classes, which amounted to attending school four nights a week. I was working fulltime during the day that summer, so I was incredibly busy. But meeting a girl in one of my evening classes gave me something to look forward to and made that summer extremely memorable.

During the first day of class, I was sitting at the back row. I will always remember that Steph – I’m changing her name for confidentiality – came a few minutes late on the first day, after the lecture had already begun. She walked in the class and I immediately noticed how beautiful she was. I think she noticed me as well because she walked from the entranceway all the way to the back row and sat right beside me. I remember I was nervous because I wanted to talk to her but was waiting for the right time. The class was about two hours long, but there was a break halfway through. I can’t remember exactly how we began talking, but I asked her a question during the break and we immediately began talking and the chemistry was definitely there. After class, we walked together and she told me she was taking the bus to school. I drove and offered her a ride home that evening, though she politely declined. I knew she was interested in me, but figured maybe she was uncomfortable driving with someone she just met. I knew I would be seeing her again anyway.

The next class, we began talking again, and she had mentioned something about getting home, suggesting she would perhaps like a ride. I immediately knew she wanted me to offer again, which I did. During the ride home, the attraction was undeniable. She knew I was into hip-hop and somehow the conversation turned to me not having cable at home, so I was unable to watch any hip-hop music videos. She offered to make me a tape of different music videos. I thought it was incredibly sweet of her and was surprised when about a week later she brought the tape for me.

One of the songs she put on there was this one. She put on a few R&B and hip-hop videos, but this song always reminds me of her and the times we spent together that summer. I drove her home almost every night after class, and while I don’t want to call it a “fling”, it didn’t last much longer than that summer. I still have her tape and will always remember her for being an incredibly sweet girl, and someone I could have spent the rest of my life with if circumstances were different. Whenever I hear this song I am reminded of her and our time together that summer.