Thank You for 1000 Visits - My Greatest Piece of UH Memorabilia

A year ago I started this blog on a whim. I knew nothing about blogging and the only thing I knew about card collecting from from the late 1980s and prior. I knew some about UH athletic history, but not as much as I could.

I thought maybe I'd get a couple of visits a week and I'd probably get tired of writing. For the first six months, I never had more than 50 visits in a month and a couple of months I didn't even break 20, but since the start of the year I've averaged over 160 visits a month.

I'd like to thank everyone who has ever visited my blog. Some of you are regulars. Some probably came to the site, saw it wasn't what you wanted and left, never to return. But I appreciate every one of you. Hopefully you've enjoyed yourself, learned something, and become more enthusiastic about the University of Houston.

Today's collectible is by far my most expensive and most valuable University of Houston collectible. It means so much to me and although I've had it for 17 years, it is still important to me. It is my University of Houston diploma.

In my five years at UH, I learned so much, had some great times and some not so good. Made some good friends and memories.

I'd like to give some advice now. I haven't always followed this advice myself, but I still think it is good information.

To current and future UH students: You get out of school what you put into it. Many say that UH is a commuter school and you don't get that traditional college experience. I didn't go to another university so I have nothing to compare it to, but I think I had a great college experience. Part of it may be because I lived on campus, but alot of it is because I participated in many campus events. I tailgated and painted my face for football games, even at the Dome where tailgating was discouraged, regardless of whether the team was horrible (1-10 my freshman year) or great (Heisman baby!). I went to basketball and baseball games, volleyball and tennis matches. I went to plays and concerts. I played intramural football and softball (on some decent teams) and basketball (we were horrible. We even lost a game to a team with only four players). I was a cheerleader for powder puff football and went to various organization functions.

There are things that I didn't do that I wish I had. I never went to a fraternity party or officially joined any organizations. But I did have a great time with all of the things that I did participate in.

So students, go to athletic events. Go to a step show. Go to a fraternity event. Participate in something that you've never done before. It's much easier while you're in school than after you get out.

To alumni/former students: Keep in touch with your school. It's easy to lose your connection. After I graduated, I moved back home to the Dallas area and became disconnect from UH. Thanks to Coogfans.com, I got back in touch. One thing I really regret is not keeping in touch with my college buddies. These are people who shared some of the greatest and worst moments of my life. I think of them every now and then and hope they're doing well.

For everyone: Take pride in your school. Good or bad, be true to your school. Don't adopt another school no matter how hard things get or how successful another school is. This is not just a UH issue. I've seen this happen with people from other schools especially UNT which I live near.

Learn about your school. I've impressed people who knew nothing about UH with my knowledge of the school. They respected my dedication to the school and appreciated UH because of my enthusiasm.

I'll get off my soapbox now. Again, I want to thank all of you for visiting my blog. Please feel free to comment or e-mail me at cougarcards@yahoo.com. I'd love to hear from you.