I can remember the exact moment.
It was the summer after my junior year in high school.
Waking up on a Friday morning with nothing to do I logged onto the Web site for Rolling Stone magazine - as was often my custom in the morning.
I was intrigued by an article ranking the nation's top 10 college towns based on their musical diversions.
Lo and behold No. 2 was Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham N.C. the home of my mother's alma mater UNC.
The crux of the writer's reasoning for the choice lay with the line-up of shows at Cat's Cradle and the reputation of a great little record store by the name of Schoolkids Records.
It was at that moment I decided I wanted to go to Carolina.
A couple of days after arriving on campus as a freshman I walked up to Franklin Street and went to Schoolkids for the first time.
I was blown away by the store.
They had CDs by every band I liked and many more by ones I'd never heard of - but wanted to.
I left that day carrying away three used discs and feeling a lot cooler.
Sadly no incoming UNC freshman will be able to repeat my experience next fall.
The Chapel Hill store which has endured since 1975 will close its doors at the end of March.
It's not that I didn't see it coming.
The store's selection of CDs had been running thin lately and there never seemed to be many people in there when I went.
And it's not like I won't be able to get on without the store. I'll still be able to pick up my CDs a couple blocks down the road at CD Alley.
But it's still a big loss to me.
It's the loss of a place to blissfully kill extra time (and money) looking at records while waiting on friends.
It's the loss of a store where I recognized all the salespeople and got to buy CDs from Sweater Weather bassist Jon Mackey.
It's the loss of a store that consigns records giving local artists a chance to get their music out.
It's the loss of one of the few at least symbolic connections between the University and the local music community.
And most importantly to me it's the loss of the place where I made my first baby steps towards getting to know that community.
Because while I know now that there's much more to this area than Schoolkids and Cat's Cradle it still hurts to think that very soon I'll never be able to walk into the store again and reminisce about the excitement and wonder of that first time.
Thanks for the start Schoolkids. I'll miss you.
Contact Jordan Lawrence at lzjordan@email.unc.edu
