ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160009
SECTION: 1 EXTRA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
It was the kindness of a stranger that allowed Penny Robertson to put pickles on her shopping list last Thanksgiving.
Pickles are a favorite of Penny's daughter, Theresa, who entered Harvard University on a shoestring budget last fall and wasn't expected home again until Christmas. But after seeing newspaper and television stories about Theresa, an anonymous donor arranged to fly her home for Thanksgiving.
Penny's first stroll down the pickle aisle at the grocery store after Theresa left turned out to be an emotional one. The glossy jars were one more reminder that Theresa was far away - for the first time in her life.
Theresa grew up in the Norwich section of Roanoke in a family rich in love and laughter, but lacking in financial means. Early on, it was obvious that both Theresa and her younger sister, Callie, a sophomore at William Fleming High School, also were rich in intelligence.
College was a dream Penny and Jerry Robertson held to tightly as Theresa moved toward high school graduation. A Harvard education was something they never considered - but Theresa did. When the thick envelope arrived accepting her into the freshman class, Theresa was overjoyed. Penny and Jerry wondered how it could ever be possible.
Through grants, loans and a major scholarship from the university, Theresa was able to accept Harvard's invitation and recently completed her first semester there - successfully, too: She made the dean's list.
The girl who was exposed to little outside her home town now has friends from all over the world, walks to classes across famed Harvard Yard and will, as an upperclassman, take courses from professors who are known world-wide.
The girl who wanted to join a Bible study group in the fall is now taking Hebrew classes alongside her Jewish roommate.
But for all the cultural, ethnic and economic diversity, Theresa says they're all ``just a bunch of college kids.
``We don't talk much about what we did before. We're all amazed that this is where we are and we just go on from here.''
There is not so much talk of being at Harvard as of being at college. There is a serious sense of purpose, though, and few of the typical freshman pranks. There is not much room for goofing off
``There's not much mass silliness that goes on,'' Theresa said. ``When you're working [studying], that's what you're doing. We all came here to accomplish something.
``Every once in a while, someone will yell, `Dance break!' and we'll crank up the music and get frantic for 10 minutes. Then, it's back to studying. There's a lot of work, but you have to just figure out when you can get stuff done,'' Theresa said. ``If I have a lot of reading, I go do laundry. There's nobody around.
``The days are filled with classes, working and studying, with small breaks,'' Theresa said, ``except for Thursday nights when we watch ``Friends,'' ``Seinfeld'' and ``ER.''
Theresa's education at William Fleming and Roanoke's select Governor's and CITY schools prepared her well for the rigors of Harvard. And she is grateful. She spent the day after she arrived home for Thanksgiving visiting her former teachers.
For the first time, B's are creeping onto a flawless academic record.
It's the sheer volume of work more than its difficulty, Theresa said. "To me, hard is a wall you can't even chip through.''
``This is Harvard,'' her mother said. ``Don't tell me it's not hard.''
Theresa's studies and job at the college library leave little time for leisure. She rarely visits bustling Harvard Square, just outside the walls of Harvard Yard, and not until her post-exams break did she begin to explore the other diversions of Cambridge and Boston.
``There's a Disney store here and a Warner Brothers store,'' Theresa said, excitedly.
``America's history lays there and she goes to the Disney store,'' Penny chuckled, shaking her head.
To her mother's delight, Theresa also has discovered some of the area's art museums.
``I look around all the time and say, `Yup, I'm not in Roanoke,''' Theresa said. ``Everything here's a lot bigger and a lot different. There have been rare occasions when I've said, `Oh, we have one of those.'''
A small-town girl at heart, Theresa is mostly content to hang out in her room with friends and her roommates.
``They're attached to one another and they don't wander far,'' Penny said, approvingly. ``They're like a group of hens nesting.''
Indeed, Theresa and the three women she lives with, though thrown together by accident, seem to have been put together by design.They're planning to room together next year as well.
Daryn, from Chicago, Yvonne, from California, and Marya, from a suburb of Boston, made sure Theresa's first birthday away from home last month was not disappointing. They led the entire dining hall in singing ``Happy Birthday'' as a huge cake was brought in, followed by gifts back in her room and diners lining up for pieces of cake.
``Please print this,'' she said in a telephone interview. ``I have the best roommates in the world!''
When she flew home for Thanksgiving - her first trip on an airplane - each roommate called to make sure she made it home OK. ``They look out for the little Southern girl,'' Penny said.
Old friends are not forgotten, though. When Theresa came home for Thanksgiving and again at Christmas, she reunited with the other members of ``The Fantastic Four,'' her closest friends during the latter years of high school.
They fell right back into their old ways, with much of the same habits as Theresa's Harvard companions: hanging out together at a coffee shop and a park, swapping stories, comparing studies. No high life here, either.
``You could tell we hadn't seen each other in a while,'' Theresa commented. ``We all sounded like a bunch of magpies. ``E-mail is nice because it's quick and it's cheap, but it's cool to have them right here where you can touch them.''
Christmas break - after a 20-hour train ride - was full of family, friends and visiting familiar places. Theresa realized her media attention had brought a certain amount of celebrity.
``The cashier in Wal-Mart kept looking at me and then said, `Aren't you that girl in the newspaper? We're all so proud of you.'''
At a New Year's Eve party, a young girl shook Theresa's hand, awestruck to meet her.
Theresa laughs, taking it all in stride, a little bemused that going to Harvard could make her somewhat famous.
``A lot of people sent me money after the newspaper and TV stories,'' she said. ``When the first checks came, Mom said, `You'd better call that reporter lady and tell her strangers are sending you money. What do we do with it?'''
The letters accompanying the checks spoke of knowing what it was like to be far from home, to be unable to chip in for pizza or go to a movie. The donors wished her well and reminded her to have some fun.
Theresa is banking the gifts for next year's expenses in hopes that her loan debt can be a little smaller or that her parents won't have to further stretch their already tight budget.
Technologically speaking, though, Theresa is on Easy Street. When a local company read about her old computer, they immediately called and offered her a new one. Her new one is ``awesome. It does everything I need and more,'' she marveled.
Other area residents called this newspaper and WDBJ-TV to offer computer equipment. Theresa and her family were dazed by the outpouring.
``I guess people just want to help out a good kid,'' Theresa's dad, Jerry, said. ``I didn't know there were so many like that out there.''
For this summer at least, Theresa will come home and earn money for next year. A veteran employee of Burger King, she let it be known she'll ``take anything where there's not hot grease involved.''
Returning to Harvard next fall is not a sure thing, financially speaking. Applications for grant and loan renewals are being filed already. ``We're keeping our fingers crossed,'' Penny said.
And there is another bright Robertson approaching the college gates. Callie, an all-A student as well, has started poring over the college guides, making a list.
``She was reading it to me,'' Penny said. ``She went, `Da, da, da, Harvard, da, da, da.' I said, `Back up a minute. What was that?'''
``Harvard,'' Callie said. ``I figured I might as well try, too.''
``Oh, Lord,'' Penny said.
LENGTH: Long : 157 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. 1. During winter break Theresaby CNBRobertson (center) reunited with old pals at Mill Mountain Coffee &
Tea in downtown Roanoke. Her friends are (from left) Kristi Alger
(the College of William & Mary), Rus Heywood (Carnegie-Mellon
University), Jamie Madore (Virginia Western Community College) and
Whitney Roberts (Virginia Commonwealth University). 2. WELCOME HOME:
Theresa has been sorely missed by her family: dad Jerry, sister
Callie and mom Penny Robertson. color. 3. Theresa says that she and
her Roanoke friends ride around a lot together. From left, Jamie
Madore, Whitney Roberts, Kristi Alger and Theresa. Graphic: logo.