Page 4 —SMOKE SIGNALS, April, 1992
Sextons share advice on making
marriage happy and long lasting
By Jessica Kiser, News Editor
In spring the minds of many
turn to romance and love, yet in our
world disposable relationships
have become as commonplace in
our lives as disposable sandwich
bags. The American divorce rate
has soared to over fifty percent.
TV commercials encourage con
sumers to buy a diamond engage
ment ring, once reserved for a
twenty-fifth or fiftieth wedding
anniversary, for their tenth anni
versary because “diamonds are
forever.” The commercial is not
far from the truth. Fifty percent of
married couples firid their vows of
“until death do us part" ending
before the tenth wedding aimiver-
sary.
In all of this heartbreak, it is
encouraging to meet a couple like
Warren and Carol Sexton. Mr.
Sexton is the acting head of the
Social Science Department, and
Mrs. Sexton is a librarian in
Whitaker Library. They have been
married for over thirty-six years.
Mrs. Sexton is quick to point to
what she considers to be the reason
for their successful marriage,
“we’ve been friends a lot longer
than we’ve been married.”
The Sextons met during their
freshman year at Lees-McCrae
Junior College. She is from a fish
ing village in New Jersey, and he is
the son of a tenant fanner in Ban
ner Elk, NC, near Boone. One day
as they walked across campus they
notic^ each other’s school jack
ets. Both were black and gold, an
unusual color combination at the
time. She had bought her jacket
and admits that he earned his as a
twelve letter man in high school
“We started talking and then dat
ing for convenience’s sake," Mr.
Sexton confesses. “Webothneeded
someone to take to dances and such
without the hassle of getting seri
ous. We both were dating other
people back home.”
During the summer they went
their separate ways and dated other
people. One of the other ladies that
Mr. Sexton dated had the same
name as his future wife, Carol
Smith. When school began again
in the fall, both the Carol Smiths
lived in the same dorm. So when
Mr. Sexton called on Carol Smith,
the one he would eventually marry,
at the beginning of the tenn, it
caused quite an embarrassing situ
ation because the wrong one came
out to meet him. “I knew that I was
the one he had meant,” Mrs. Sex
ton claims. “But I let her go down
to meet him anyway.”
“I tried to tell her as nicely as I
could that I had been dating an
other giri named Carol Smith,”Mr.
Sexton relates. “She did not take
too kindly to being told that”
That was not the only mishap
the Sextons encounter^ while
dating in college. Mrs. Sexton’s
dorm mother had her ideas about
what was proper public display of
affection. “The flowers in her dorm
must have been water plants be
cause that woman was always
watering them. That was her way
of coming out into the lobby to
check on us,” recalls Mr. Sextoa
“I remember one day when she
saw one of my friends holding his
girt-friend’s hand. She asked him
Kappa Sigma
Chapter inducts
new members
Kappa Sigma Chapter of Alpha
Mu Gamma National Collegiate
Foreign Languages Honor Society
initiated three full members and
two associate members on Tues
day, March 17 (Saint Patrick’s
Day.)
Students elected to full mem
bership are: Sloan Holliday, Wanda
Lassiter, and Noriko Yoshimoto.
Associate members are Jennifer E.
Lane and HoUie E. Tinsley. These
new initiates join the present
membership: DeAngela Bishard
(secretary-treasurer), Jason C.
Drake (president), Sheila Garrett,
and John M. Linstrom. Dr. Cart
Garrott is the faculty sponsor.
Alpha Mu Gamma is an honor
society that includes men and
women who strive for and attain
excellence in the study of French
or Spanish at Chowan College.
Professor Warren Sexton and wife, Carol Sexton.
what in the world he was saving for
marriage.”
Before the end of their sopho
more year, they made things offi
cial. “I enjoyed showing the other
Carol Smith my engagement ring,”
Mrs. Sexton remembers.
Both of the Sextons remember
the advice that their sociology
professor gave them: “Do you like
each other? Do you like each
other’s parents? fiiends? way of
life? You can only make love for
one percent of the time. The other
ninety-nine percent of the time you
have to live with each other, sit
across the table from each other,
and look at each other.”
In August of 1954, they were
married. “I got a job at GM in
Wilmington because we felt that
we were supposed to do things
ourselves, but after nine months of
that I decided that I wanted to do
more with my life than put trim
around automobiles,” remembers
Mr. Sexton.
He went back to school at Appa
lachian State and earned an under
graduate degree and a master’s de
gree in history, while she worked
in the Registrar’s Office. Then Mr.
Sexton received a one year ap
pointment in the Social Science
department of Chowan College. It
was a temporary position until the
professor decided not to return.
Now with a full time job and
two children, the Sextons decided
that it was time for Mrs. Sexton to
go back to school. She commuted
sixty-five miles to North Carolina
Wesleyan for five semesters. Dur
ing this time, they had a lady to
watch the kids, but it still took a lot
of working together. She used his
office during finals to have a quiet
place to study, and he watched the
kids from 6:30 in the morning until
the babysitter arrived and when
ever else it was necessary. "He
earned the degree from Wesleyan
as much as I did,” Mrs. Sexton
admits.
After Mrs. Sexton finished her
undergraduate degree, she went to
Chapel Hill to work towards her
master’s degree. Every summerun-
til she earned her degree they
packed up their bag, baggage, and
two kids and went to Chapel Hill.
Sometimes they did not know
where they were going to live until
a couple of weeks before they left.
She signed up for the classes she
needed, and he signed up for a
class he was interested in around
her schedule. They took turns
watching the children and were
very thankful that the children
enjoyed the library so much. “One
summer, the children turned a re
frigerator box into a library desk.
They made library cards for every
one of their books and spent the
entire summer checking the books
out to each other,” the Sextons
remember.
“We were not of a mind to wait
luitil things settled. We wanted to
help each other do it. We have
always been absolutely committed
to helping each other do whatever
we wanted to do. We have still to
have our first argument because
one of us is always able to keep his
cool. If it is big enough to fight
about, it is big enough to talk
about,” Mr. Sexton believes.
The Sextons believe marriage is
not accidental. It involves two
people making a commitment to
each other to work at it. Part of the
way the Sextons work things out is
the two tubes of toothpaste in their
bathroom. “1 squeeze the tube from
the middle, and he squeezes it from
the bottom. Two tubes became a
necessity,” Mrs. Sexton admits.
In the day of the disposable re
lationship, the Sextons are a prom
ising reminder of possibility. “We
talk about a decision before we
make it That way it becomes a
joint decision. There is never any
desire to say, ‘I told you so’.”
FINAL EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
SPRING SEMESTER, 1992
THURSDAY, 30 APRIL
6:30 p.m. Final exams for AS 002 (Writing Fundatmentals)
FRIDAY, 1 MAY
8:00 a.m. Final exams for classes that meet at 11:00 MWF and 11:00 MTWTF
10:00 a.m. Final exams for classees that meet at 2:00 TH
1:00 p.m. Final exams for classes that meet at 1:00 MWF
SATURDAY, 2 MAY
8:00 a.m. Final exams for clases that meet at 11:00 TH
10:00 a.m. Final exams for classes that meet at 2:00 MWF
1:00 p.m. Final exams for classes that meet at 9:00 TH
MONDAY, 4 MAY
8:00 a.m. Final exams for classes that meet at 9:00 MWF and 9:00 MTWTF
10:00 a.m. Final exams for classes that meet at 12:00 MWF and 12:00 MTWTF
1:00 p;.m. Final exams for classes taht meet at 12:30 TH and 1:00 TH
TUESDAY, 5 MAY
8:00 a.m. Final exams for clases that meet at 8:00 MWF and 8:00 MTWTF
10:00 a.m. Final exam for classes tat meet at 8:00 TH
1:00 p.m. Final exams for classes that meet at 10:00 MWF
WEDNESDAY, 6 MAY
8:00 a.m.. HNAL EXAMS FOR CLASSES THAT MEET AT 3:00 MWF AND 3:30 TH
10:00 a.m. MAKE-UP EXAMS
NOTE: Final exams for all classes that meet after 3:00 MWF and after 3:30 TH will be administered
at the time of the last regular class period.
The seventh annual typewriting contestfor high school students from both Virginia and North Carolina was
held at Chowan on March 26. Thirteen schools participated in the half-day event. The contest featured both
a beginning and advanced division. Each school was permitted to enter two students in each division. Chowan
students assisting with the contest were Belinda Everette, Cathy Piland, Missy Wright, and Mike Moore.
Andrea Eason served as chairperson of the contest and was assisted by Hattie Jones, Dorothy Wallace, and
L. M. Wallace.
Over 500 students attend
annual Math-Science Day
By Jessica Kiser
The Math and Science Depart
ments hosted a Math-Science Day
on March 20 for North Carolina
high school students. Over five
hundred high school students and
27 teachers attended the event.
Some of the students traveled over
four hours from the Eastern Shore
in order to attend, while others
came from as close by as Ahoskie.
The students learned about a
variety of math and science sub
jects from projects made by
Chowan students. The college
students helped the high school
students understand science and
math, by talking with them and
answering any questions they had.
As Christian Overton, a pre-agri
culture major from Shiloh, N.C.,
commented, “It was good. The
college students got to learn fi-om
teaching the high school students.”
Phyllis Dewar, a chemistry
teacher at Chowan, agreed, “The
college students were well-re
ceived. It was a good experience
for all involved.”
Displays were about subjects
ranging from birth control devices
and how they work to demonstra-
LIBRARY EXAM HOURS
FRIDAY, May 1-8:30 a.m. -11:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, May 2-8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, May 3-2:00 p.m. -11:00 p.m.
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY, May 4-6-
8:30 a.m. -11:00 p.m.
THURSDAY, May 7-8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
tions of oxidation and reduction
reactions. Terri Henry, an educa
tion major from Virginia Beach,
described the lower back and took
the students’ pulses. “It was edu
cational for me, too. The students
smiled, laughed, and were conver
sational. I think they liked it.”
“The high school students
wanted to know more. We all
learned from the experience. We
got to give them information so
they can understand more,” stated
Tonie Boone, anursingmajorfrom
Conway, N.C.
Franklin
PLAYLAND
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Open Weekdays 5-9
Fridays, Saturdays
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Chowan Students
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398-5778
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