I was sitting in the back corner of a large crowded room, which seemed to be in a law school. A judge walked into the room and onto a stage in the front, apparently intending to give a speech. The din in the room was so loud from the many people talking, no one could hear him. Finally someone introduced the judge as the first judge who had ever held office on the Supreme Court of Texas, and people began to quiet down. The first thing I heard him say was, "I'd like for Steve Collier to come up on the stage."

I could hardly believe my ears. I had no idea why he would call me up on the stage. I stood, looked around at some other people and said, "Was it me he called? Was it me?"

When they nodded affirmatively, I started walking toward the stage. On the way I began pushing to the side my long hair, which was hanging down in my eyes. I was wearing a pair of short pants. When I reached the stage, the professor handed me a box which had a bunch of papers on top. I stood looking at the box and the papers, while the people in the audience looked at me. Finally I realized the papers on the box were checks (seven or eight). I looked through them and saw some for $300, $400, $500, and $600. All checks were made out to me. One check was signed by Mansell (a legal client). Another was signed by Kangus (another legal client). Another appeared to be signed by my father and my mother. I finally realized all these people had contributed money so I could go to school. I also saw and quickly read to myself a short letter under the checks which gave the names of the people who had contributed money.

Actually I had been planning to go to another college, but all these people had contributed money so I would stay in the college I was in. I felt a bit disappointed, because I wanted to transfer to the other college, but I thought I would probably stay where I was since those people wanted me to. I finally decided to say something, and since some people were still talking loudly, I practically shouted over the din, "Well, what I've got here is a bunch of checks. I'm not sure how much is here exactly, but it's more than enough to go to school for one more quarter, which is what I need to graduate. So it looks like that's exactly what I'll do."

After finishing, I was unsure whether I should open the box. I didn't. I stepped off the stage as some people began hissing for me to say more. No one was upset when I didn't say anything else, and I headed to my seat.