Nearly 30 years after Mercer University alumnus Brian Schmidt last set foot in Plunkett Hall on the Macon campus, he found himself back in the residence hall.
In August, he moved his son, freshman Reid Schmidt, into the building where he had lived for three years of his college career.
With the addition of the new College Street Plaza green space, Brian Schmidt said Plunkett feels much more connected to campus than when he was at Mercer. When he lived there in the mid ’90s, cars could drive right up to the building on College Street.
But “as far as the inside of it,” he said, “it was exactly as I remember.”
Schmidt’s roommate and several of his friends were members of the swim team, who practiced in the pool behind Plunkett. There, he learned how to swim for triathlons, training year-round thanks to the enclosure the pool had at the time.
“It was really humid,” he recalled. “Even when you weren’t in the pool, you were wet.”
Schmidt, a consulting engineer, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1998. He said he met some of his best friends at Mercer, and he hopes his son will do the same.
“Other than getting a good education, I would like to see him build a community of lifelong friends,” he said.
Reid Schmidt, a biology major on the pre-dental track, didn’t know his roommate before receiving his room assignment in the summer. But they met online and hung out a few times before moving in at Plunkett.
“He decorated a bit,” Schmidt said of his roommate. “I’m kind of a minimalist, so I have a plant. That’s about it.”
Schmidt already has gotten involved in several student organizations on campus, including the Pre-Dental Club and a club promoting cancer awareness. He wants to be a peer tutor and maybe a peer advisor.
He said he’s looking forward to getting to know people and working toward dental school.
“I really like biology. I like science. Just getting to learn more about it is awesome,” he said.
