Some things you never forget.

Maybe a high school graduation or a first job.

Or a wedding, birth of a child, and of course, the passing of a loved one.

They’re all milestones in our life’s journey. And it’s not odd that today’s news often triggers those memories.

It happened Tuesday, when word came down from University Park that 12 of 19 of Penn State University’s Commonwealth Campuses were being considered for closing.

Campuses in Schuylkill Haven, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton were on that list.

My mind swirled into almost overdrive as the memories flowed from parts of my aging brain that I never knew I had.

It was August of 1975. Just two months out of high school, I walked into my first college experience at Penn State’s Hazleton Campus. The locals called it Highacres, what it was called while it was the home of a member of the Markle family of local coal and banking fame.

Fresh, new texts and empty notebooks in hand, I strode into a classroom of the Kostos Building for my initiation into higher learning.

Moments later, almost like a fresh gust of wind, a middle-aged man entered.

In what seemed like one swift motion, he picked up a chair, placed it on the desk at the front of the room, stepped up and plopped into his seat.

“I am the king, and you are my subjects!” he bellowed to the packed room of students.

Talk about an attention grabber! He certainly got mine.

“What the hell did I get myself into?” I thought. Almost immediately, I wondered if all the professors were like this. For a split second, I doubted whether I took the right path in signing up for college.

Turns out, it was Harold W. Aurand, Ph.D., a professor of history, author and one of the foremost Coal Region historians of his time.

His lectures were legendary and points of view thought-provoking.

I could go on, but I’m certain that anyone who attended the campus has stories they might share.

Being able to attend Highacres was more than just an education.

It was a place where friendships were forged.

At the time, many of the students came from the Hazleton Area School District. But the Hazleton Campus was home to students from all over the region.

Perhaps its biggest asset is location.

Just a few hundred feet from Interstate 81, and a few miles from its intersection with Interstate 80, Highacres is a convenient drive from anywhere in the region.

From the north, Scranton is about an hour. Wilkes-Barre is about 30 minutes.

From the west, Berwick and Bloomsburg weren’t too far.

The Panther Valley, Tamaqua, Shenandoah, Jim Thorpe — from all those places — Hazleton hosted students.

Heck, a guy I met from Florida survived 20-plus-hour drives, just to begin his college career at Penn State. We’re still friends, more than 50 years later.

Back in the mid-’70s, the campus was much smaller. The library and classroom buildings were new. The student union building was about 20. We had music classes in an old greenhouse.

The physical education building was under construction, and opened officially in my sophomore year.

Today, the campus is much larger, with new classroom buildings, dormitories, a new dining hall and top notch fields that accommodated a growth spurt there after I graduated.

Highacres was also a place that helped struggling students and their families save money.

In my time there, I scheduled a full-time job around classes.

The money I earned went right back toward tuition, which was a whole lot less than it is today.

In fact, when it came time to move to the Mother Ship in Centre County after two years, I took with me a check I picked up at the bookstore — grant money unspent, but still mine.

Almost 20 years later, I returned as an adjunct professor of journalism. In fact, current Times News staffer Jill Whalen was in the first class I taught.

Back in real time, the latest campus news isn’t surprising. Penn State’s been restructuring because of dwindling enrollment for a while. Faculty was furloughed and the Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton sites have a single chancellor.

An aging population, a declining number of 18-year-olds, post-pandemic worries and affordability are all being blamed for a shortage of students.

Whatever the case, it’s a good bet that one or more of the local campuses will close its doors.

For local students in search of a quality education, the Commonwealth Campuses have been the way to go while holding down costs.

Their closing would rob students of that opportunity. I was fortunate to have it.

Personally, my Penn State Hazleton days are long gone, except for the friends and the memories.

After all, some things you never forget.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnoline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.