Terry’s Story

Amanda: This is Ryerson Rewind — a podcast featuring alumni, sharing their fondest memories from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Terry: My name is Terry O'Connor. I graduated from Journalism in 1958. We’re in the Quadrangle which is a beautiful quiet place in the centre of the city and it has memories for me because Toronto Metropolitan University was entirely located in the Quadrangle when I was here and the classroom I went to school in was down at the south end looking out on Gould Street and the O'keefe Brewery. (laughter) You could smell the hops and the malt when they were brewing, my goodness, it came in through the windows and it was a distraction. (Laughter). I mean this campus has grown so fantastically, it’s just amazing. Now it’s spread North, East, South, and West you know. And that surprised me because back then I thought if it grew, where would they grow it. There didn’t seem to be any place for it to go outside of, you know, this square was fenced in, there was an iron spiked fence, all around it and it seemed to be saying ‘this is it.’ But it turned out not to be, I’m amazed at how much property they’ve acquired and they’re still growing. So it’s just amazing. I was 18, when I arrived at Toronto Metropolitan University in 1955. I was young, I was naive, and I was painfully shy. And the day that I registered for Journalism, I paid my $98 tuition fee and I got lost on the way home, back to my boarding house, because I come from a town of 2,500 people and at that time Toronto was over a million. And I had never been away from home before and I actually cried myself to sleep that first night, I was so homesick. But then, things got better! In class I learned the fascinations of politics and psychology, philosophy and the five W’s and many other things and I got to know the pleasures of Toronto, travelling around. It was a wonderful time and I made friendships that have lasted to this day. I met Berry Zwicker who had come from out west and I met him in first year, and we became friends really quickly. And then after graduation we worked in separate cities and then we both got jobs in Toronto at about the same time. So we rented a room together for three years until I got married and Berry was the best man at my wedding. And we’ve both lived in Toronto now for the almost last 50 years and we used to get together regularly to play tennis when we were younger and we still get together for movies and talk politics and just assess the state of the world, you know. We have lunch once a month and just see how we’re doing. The whole thing, the whole three years was just, just really changed my life for the better, for the much better   

Amanda: This podcast is a production of the Ryerson University Alumni Association. I’m Amanda Cupido, a proud member of the board of directors, and the producer and editor of this podcast. For more stories like the one you just heard visit torontomu.ca/alumni.