Paula and Harold Hochstatter couldn\u2019t help but feel God\u2019s hand was in everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hand most certainly nudged Harold away from the U.S. Army when he got an \u201cearly out\u201d to come back to WSU in the spring of 1961. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hand also might have pushed Paula to the third floor of Holland Library, where she sat studying at a big table one day because \u201cstudying didn\u2019t come real easy\u201d to her, and she had to work hard for her general studies degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That day, Harold walked past her table, did a double take, and quickly walked back into the library\u2019s stacks. He \u201cscrewed [his] courage up,\u201d took a seat at Paula\u2019s table, and \u2013 after what seemed like a \u201cnervous half hour\u201d \u2013 asked her to go for a Coca-Cola in the Compton Union Building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two years later, they were married. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I married that woman, my whole world changed,\u201d Harold said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The couple visited WSU for the first time since 1964 on April 28 and said they were in awe of it all, noticing new buildings and the absence of ones that have long since been torn down. After visiting Holland Library, they also stopped by the Community Congregational United Church of Christ, where they married on Nov. 23, 1963. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the day after former President John F. Kennedy was shot, and Paula said she remembers standing in Todd Hall when it happened, watching everyone gasping in shock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On their wedding day, Paula was pregnant, which she said was difficult on her family, growing up as a \u201csmall-town, farmer girl.\u201d However, her parents were supportive, and so was the church\u2019s pastor, who said he did not believe in marrying just anyone who was pregnant at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe said \u2026 \u2018You guys are going to make it.\u2019 Harold and I have hung onto those words,\u201d Paula said. \u201cDivorce was never going to be a part of our vocabulary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the wedding, the couple moved into married student housing near Dissmore\u2019s and off of Stadium Way until Harold graduated in 1964 with a general studies degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harold said he was always a \u201crotten student,\u201d flunking out of college in 1958 before heading to Central Washington University and later volunteering for the draft in Yakima. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a 1964 graduation photograph, Harold was even seen running across the infield toward his little sister, who called him to say he was on WSU\u2019s deficiency list, he said. Harold spoke with his adviser, who had said his grades were fine to finish college, wondering what they would say to the Academic Standing Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His adviser said, \u201cI\u2019ll think of something,\u201d and Harold graduated by the skin of his teeth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Harold was married, his grades were the best they had ever been, Paula said. People certainly gave Harold a hard time for marrying a dedicated student like Paula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019d say, \u2018What\u2019s she marrying you for?\u2019\u201d Harold said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of taking 21 credits her first years of college, Paula balanced three jobs, including waitressing at the McCroskey Hall dining facility and cleaning bathrooms on the weekends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She recalled the dorm hosting candlelight dinners on Thursdays, where about six students ate at each table, and women announced their engagements. Paula said McCroskey Hall had only one phone per floor at the time, meaning whoever\u2019s room was closest to the phone would respond and page the other girls if they had a call coming in, which made dating interesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paula also found the process of registering for classes just as quirky. At Hollingbery Fieldhouse, students visited their counselors, then stood in line for each class in Bohler Gym. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOften, by the time you got to the head of the line, the class would be filled, so then you had to go back to your counselor and start all over again,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was quite an ordeal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While living in McCroskey Hall and pursuing her degree, Paula said she experienced culture shock and learned to interact with people she never would have otherwise met in her past life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She grew up 20 miles south of Grand Coulee Dam, graduating in the top of her class of eight people. She initially wanted to pursue a degree in English to follow in the footsteps of her high school teacher she admired, but she eventually changed her major to general studies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, Harold grew up in Moses Lake, a town with a population of 300 at the time, where the couple now resides near their five children, 19 grandchildren, and six \u2013 almost seven \u2013 great-grandchildren. <\/p>\n\n\n\n