[This text is machine generated and may contain errors.]
Interviewer: Alston Cobourn
Narrator: Forrest Foster
Date: September 15th, 2023
Alston Cobourn (00:00:01)
When you hit record.
Alston Cobourn (00:00:03)
I have now hit record, so it's OK yeah, go ahead and say something if you want to.
Forrest Foster (00:00:07)
ABC.
Forrest Foster (00:00:07)
DEFG, I'm at East Carolina University.
Forrest Foster (00:00:12)
And I mean for it to rhyme.
Forrest Foster (00:00:15)
But it did so.
Alston Cobourn (00:00:16)
OK. That's. I think that's good. Alright. Yeah, yeah.
Forrest Foster (00:00:18)
I think that's good.
Alston Cobourn (00:00:22)
So hello everyone. My name is Austin Coburn. I'm the university archivist here at East Carolina University, and today I am with Forrest Foster. We are meeting in the rare book room and Joiner Library today is September 15th, and it is.
Alston Cobourn (00:00:41)
The afternoon.
Alston Cobourn (00:00:44)
I'm not sure exactly what time, 1:56. OK, so why don't we start off with having you tell us your full name when and where you were born? Yeah, start with that.
Forrest Foster (00:01:00)
Thank you for having me. My name is Forrest Foster Forest, Cedric.
Forrest Foster (00:01:03)
Foster and I was born in Rochester, NY in 1977, April 30th, and that's where I was born. That's when I.
Forrest Foster (00:01:16)
Was born, yeah.
Alston Cobourn (00:01:17)
OK.
Alston Cobourn (00:01:19)
And so when you were young, what did your family do for a living?
Forrest Foster (00:01:26)
So my father was in manufacturing, so that's some of the reasons why, as I discussed earlier today, that's the reason why we moved around a lot. He worked for NCR at one time.
Forrest Foster (00:01:40)
He worked for.
Forrest Foster (00:01:42)
GE at one time in Xerox at one time.
Forrest Foster (00:01:46)
Course Xerox is is was pretty, you know, prominent in Rochester. That's their headquarters up there.
Alston Cobourn (00:01:52)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:01:54)
And my mother was a media specialist.
Forrest Foster (00:01:58)
At an elementary school, #4 school, actually in Rochester, NY.
Forrest Foster (00:02:03)
And we ended up moving a lot. We started off in Rochester, NY. Then we moved to Huntsville, AL.
Forrest Foster (00:02:11)
And then we moved to Clemson SC. So I always tell people that's probably the best education I ever had was just being exposed to different environments. It's the best lesson I ever received because you just had to adapt. You know, you didn't have a choice.
Forrest Foster (00:02:31)
I don't really claim a particular area because I moved so much, but I still have friends in each location, but I mean it was. It was the best experience because I had to adapt and I had to be able to.
(00:02:36)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:02:48)
Maneuver and learn cultures, different cultures, and I think that has helped me to this day actually.
Alston Cobourn (00:02:57)
Do you have a?
Forrest Foster (00:02:58)
Sibling I. Do I have an older brother and he actually lives in Charlotte right now. And he, you know, just like, much influenced my parents have. He has probably been the biggest influence on me for those that have siblings, you know, the the relationships can be, you know, extreme.
Forrest Foster (00:03:17)
So on both ends of the spectrum, but we had a great relationship and so him being five years older than me, I always had somebody to look up to. You know, I always had somebody I could follow, always had somebody I couldn't get in trouble with. Right. And so him just.
Forrest Foster (00:03:34)
You know, having another sibling in the house was was awesome. We had great times.
Forrest Foster (00:03:41)
We, you know, shared a lot of memories. You know, he was big into sports. My father was big into sports. My mother, not so much. She thought I would get hurt. But. And of course I did. But, you know, that's part of growing up. You know, you get up and you keep it moving and.
Forrest Foster (00:03:59)
But you know our the central core of our communication has always been sports, sports and news. And so and that, that bond is still there to this day. So big influence on me, my brother.
Alston Cobourn (00:04:17)
And I remember, I remember you told me that your parents were both from Huntsville. I think. And and.
Alston Cobourn (00:04:23)
So that was so when.
Alston Cobourn (00:04:24)
They moved back. If they had lived there.
Forrest Foster (00:04:26)
Before, right. So they were. They both were from Alabama. My father was from actually Selma, which, you know, plays a big part in the history of civil rights. Selma AL, my mother is is from southern little bit lower to our South of.
Alston Cobourn (00:04:29)
OK, OK.
Alston Cobourn (00:04:32)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:04:43)
Emma, which is Mobile AL, which they always like to claim they started the.
Forrest Foster (00:04:51)
Mardi Gras if and and and technically they did, but I think it it kind of moved W to New Orleans and I think New Orleans made it more.
Forrest Foster (00:05:00)
Popularized more.
Forrest Foster (00:05:01)
Popular but for some reason they like to claim it, and maybe they did start it, but you know, it's not where the home is now. So it's and we all we all know it's in New Orleans.
Alston Cobourn (00:05:08)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:05:11)
She's from mobile and you know, they both attended Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, which is a HBC as well. And they got married and then they decided to leave Alabama because.
Alston Cobourn (00:05:18)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:05:26)
You know, the trajectory was to, you know, go up north and and find better opportunities and so.
Forrest Foster (00:05:32)
That's when my brother and I were were born, said he was born in 72. I was born in 77, so yeah.
Alston Cobourn (00:05:39)
Right.
(00:05:40)
OK.
Alston Cobourn (00:05:42)
So what years were you here? What? What were years? Were you a student at East Carolina? And what was your major?
Forrest Foster (00:05:49)
I came in in 1995.
Forrest Foster (00:05:55)
And I graduated in 99. I came in in 95.
Forrest Foster (00:06:02)
I had just left Clemson SC I graduated from DW Daniel High School in Clemson, SC and.
Forrest Foster (00:06:11)
At that time, I just like most seniors in high school, I had really no clue what I wanted to do.
Forrest Foster (00:06:19)
I just remember that, you know, having an opportunity to go to college was.
Forrest Foster (00:06:26)
Was something that had always been talked about in my household.
Forrest Foster (00:06:29)
You know, getting an education, of course. My mother, being a media specialist, even though I did not like reading, I like to kind of just scan through the pages as most children would do. But I think over time I developed that that inquiry of understanding.
Forrest Foster (00:06:45)
And comprehending of of of context and and books and things, but that that was, you know, something that was.
Forrest Foster (00:06:55)
Often taught to me was, you know, get an education and better yourself. And you know, you'll have better opportunities. So with that in mind, I decided to do major in communications. And my minor was in history. So when we were talking earlier about some individuals.
Forrest Foster (00:07:14)
I was just trying to, you know, trying to remember some names.
Alston Cobourn (00:07:17)
OK. OK. OK.
Forrest Foster (00:07:18)
But yeah.
Forrest Foster (00:07:22)
Mascom, I think the concentration was production.
Forrest Foster (00:07:27)
Of course, we know that has changed over time because back then it was. It was a lot of analog and no digital but and you know the equipment has changed and the whole structure has changed, but.
Forrest Foster (00:07:41)
That that was the goal was to. I didn't know what specifically I wanted to do.
Forrest Foster (00:07:48)
Until maybe 9798, I think my mother's influence over time.
Forrest Foster (00:07:56)
Resulted in me deciding to.
Forrest Foster (00:08:00)
Get my masters or receive or obtain a masters in library science.
Forrest Foster (00:08:06)
I think just, you know, going to the library after school.
Forrest Foster (00:08:12)
And not, you know, subconsciously, you know, being in that space, as we often do, as, as as kids and sometimes as adults, we find ourselves in places and, you know, you, you you get influenced by it. You get attracted to it for whatever reason, whether it's the technology, whether it's just.
Forrest Foster (00:08:29)
The space to learn or create and I I think for me it was. I always wanted to know how things worked right. So that whole research and finding out how things worked was it was a big aspect for me in that space while I was waiting for my mother to get off work and go home.
Forrest Foster (00:08:50)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:08:52)
So yeah, initially undergraduate was communications and it just seemed something along the lines that I wanted to do.
Forrest Foster (00:09:01)
At the time, yeah.
Alston Cobourn (00:09:03)
What? What made you decide to enroll at East Carolina as opposed to a? Yeah, another college. How did you end up?
Forrest Foster (00:09:10)
Here. Well, fortunately, I received an athletic scholarship. I received an offer from East Carolina.
Forrest Foster (00:09:17)
So I played several sports in high school.
Forrest Foster (00:09:26)
Football seem to be the one that would kind of give me the best opportunity.
Forrest Foster (00:09:33)
I wasn't a big time recruit, but I had. I had, you know, a couple offers. I think Tennessee, Chattanooga. We talked about Tennessee earlier and definitely, of course, East Carolina, the Citadel as well.
Alston Cobourn (00:09:40)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:09:48)
And I want to say Furman and that's in Greenville, actually, Greenville, SC.
Alston Cobourn (00:09:55)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:09:56)
There were a couple other schools that that took interest, but they didn't never offered, so I don't claim them. I can't claim that they recruited me because they didn't offer me so. But Georgia Tech was the school that I was.
Forrest Foster (00:10:07)
I was interested in and they communicated with me, and then the last school was Clemson, who did offer me.
Forrest Foster (00:10:15)
And at the time I I I just, I did not like Clemson, not the program, but just the town I was in coming from Alabama. And and this is a, you know, it it's all it's all expert.
Forrest Foster (00:10:28)
You know people always asking me, you know, what's what's the best place to live or what's your experience in Alabama? I told them, you know, my experience in Huntsville, AL was was was great. You know, I think that the, you know, where we lived, it offered a, you know, a variety, some diversity.
Forrest Foster (00:10:49)
So my experience was was great.
Forrest Foster (00:10:54)
So you know it, it's.
Forrest Foster (00:10:57)
We all know that there's, you know, experiences out there that people have certain experience, whether it be, you know, racism, classism, sexism, whatever.
Forrest Foster (00:11:07)
But coming from Huntsville to Clemson was a was a big change. You went from probably 150 a hundred, but back then it was probably 125,000 residence as in Huntsville, coming to a 10,000 college town and you know most of the individuals who.
Forrest Foster (00:11:25)
Lived in that.
Forrest Foster (00:11:26)
City you were either male workers or you.
Forrest Foster (00:11:29)
Worked in the university, so the demographics were, you know, it was in.
Forrest Foster (00:11:33)
The either or.
Forrest Foster (00:11:34)
And you know, you could really see the the the difference.
Forrest Foster (00:11:40)
Of the you know, the mindset of of the individuals and so learning that space, how to how to, you know, live within that space and create friends in that space was it wasn't a challenge, but it was just, you know, it was something new, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:11:59)
It well, well, I would say this, it wasn't hard, but it was new, you know, it was just another.
Forrest Foster (00:12:03)
Challenge, I would say.
Forrest Foster (00:12:06)
And it worked out. You know, it wasn't it wasn't.
Forrest Foster (00:12:11)
A. An experience that.
Forrest Foster (00:12:19)
I couldn't handle, but it was definitely different.
Forrest Foster (00:12:22)
And I ended up.
Forrest Foster (00:12:26)
Making great friends there till this day.
Forrest Foster (00:12:31)
And but it was different and so.
Forrest Foster (00:12:34)
All the all those kids, all the whole town was Clemson. You know, Clemson, Clemson and of course, Clemson University. If you follow football now, it's it's not what they were used to be, you know, Clemson now is a little bit, you know, more robust, I would say, more popular, but back then they were, they were good, but they weren't what they were, what they.
Forrest Foster (00:12:52)
Are now so.
Forrest Foster (00:12:55)
The coach called me up. He offered me, but I I told him no. My father got mad because.
Forrest Foster (00:13:00)
I you know, I was naive back then. I didn't understand. You know, the full process of.
Forrest Foster (00:13:05)
The the recruiting aspect and he just I remember him telling me he never turned down an opportunity, you know, just don't say no, you know, because you don't know what the what your other opportunities might lie, what might have. You know you might not get.
Alston Cobourn (00:13:17)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:13:18)
Another offer, right?
Forrest Foster (00:13:19)
But me being caught up in this, you know, Alabama and Clemson and.
Forrest Foster (00:13:25)
I remember.
Forrest Foster (00:13:25)
Saying that, I remember I told the coach no when I told my father he got highly upset.
Forrest Foster (00:13:31)
He talked to me about just opportunities, right, so.
Forrest Foster (00:13:35)
But anyway, I ended up at East Carolina because.
Forrest Foster (00:13:42)
I just thought it was.
Forrest Foster (00:13:45)
A good place I had a visit up here to check out the university, walk around campus, met some people and.
Forrest Foster (00:13:54)
I think the major thing was it. It was.
Forrest Foster (00:13:58)
You know, it was probably four or five.
Forrest Foster (00:14:00)
Hours away from home.
Forrest Foster (00:14:03)
Not to say I wanted to get away from home, but it was you.
Forrest Foster (00:14:05)
Know it was I, you know, I met some good. I met some other players. It wasn't too, too far.
Forrest Foster (00:14:12)
But then also too it just, you know, it's another chance.
Forrest Foster (00:14:15)
For me to.
Forrest Foster (00:14:18)
To grow. You know, I think I, I.
Forrest Foster (00:14:22)
Over the years, we learned how to to move right and change different locations and and adapt and grow. And I think even to this day, you know, in my job history I've moved a lot and I think it's because of.
Forrest Foster (00:14:38)
My history and my past, I've always had to move.
Forrest Foster (00:14:42)
And and just I guess that feeling of moving and trying to grow and progress that's still sits with me today. Even my even though my wife does not like it at all, she's she's from high point, NC and she does not like movie.
(00:14:53)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:14:56)
You know, it's all about opportunities and finding the right opportunity. As we all know and not just move because you want to move or you have this feeling that I just got to satisfy this feeling, you know, but now it's.
Forrest Foster (00:15:05)
About the right.
Forrest Foster (00:15:06)
Move so. But that's why that's how I ended up at East Carolina's the the athletic opportunity.
Alston Cobourn (00:15:16)
High school.
Forrest Foster (00:15:17)
I played basketball, I played, I ran track.
Forrest Foster (00:15:23)
I wish I would have stuck with baseball, though.
Forrest Foster (00:15:29)
I ran track for the wrong reasons. I ran track just, you know, friend's sake. It was easy. It was relaxing, but I, you know, baseball. I think I should have maximized my opportunity with baseball.
Forrest Foster (00:15:45)
Because I thought I was good at it, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:15:48)
But I enjoyed track, you know, gave me a chance to.
Forrest Foster (00:15:52)
You know, track, you know, footballs in the fall track is in the spring. So it gave me a chance to kind of relax. And you know, you, you run for about 10 seconds and you're done, you.
Forrest Foster (00:16:01)
Know. And so you.
Alston Cobourn (00:16:02)
Yeah, it's printing.
Forrest Foster (00:16:02)
Sit. So you Sprint and you run for about 11-12 seconds and your event is over and then you sit down and socialize and you're.
Forrest Foster (00:16:12)
Yapping with your friends and then, you know, maybe 30 minutes later you run another event and you're done, you know? So it.
Forrest Foster (00:16:18)
Was just. It's more of a social.
Forrest Foster (00:16:21)
Activity I would.
Forrest Foster (00:16:23)
But I enjoyed it.
Alston Cobourn (00:16:24)
I think I saw that in the things you brought, you might have had a couple little track related medals.
Forrest Foster (00:16:30)
I think that's what they were.
Alston Cobourn (00:16:32)
One maybe was something with.
Forrest Foster (00:16:34)
Junior. Yeah. Junior Olympics or something. So, yeah, they they were probably in there. Yeah. They were probably in there. Yeah.
Alston Cobourn (00:16:41)
So I guess you must have been OK at that too.
Forrest Foster (00:16:46)
Competitive, you know?
Forrest Foster (00:16:50)
A lot of people talk about my size and you know, you know, I think the athletes even back then, but definitely now, you know, you these athletes are just.
Forrest Foster (00:16:59)
Huge, you know size wise and you know 6-5 and six, four and 200 lbs and 200.
Forrest Foster (00:17:05)
20 lbs.
Forrest Foster (00:17:06)
So I'm like 59175, you know, and.
Forrest Foster (00:17:09)
Back then, that was supposed to be the average average size for a man right now that I don't think that's the case. I think the average size is probably.
Forrest Foster (00:17:15)
60 or something but.
Forrest Foster (00:17:18)
But yeah, I mean, you know, I tell people all the time.
Forrest Foster (00:17:22)
It's more than athleticism and athleticism helps, but you know, depending on the sport you play well, it really doesn't matter the sport, your sport you're playing, whether it's women soccer, whether it's lacrosse, whether it's golf, whether it's football, basketball, it's a mental game. And I, you know, my brother.
Forrest Foster (00:17:42)
I think we started off at an early age.
Forrest Foster (00:17:45)
Understanding that the the mental game was just as important as being athletic. So.
Alston Cobourn (00:17:54)
What? So. So when you were here at East Carolina, obviously we just were talking about how you were involved in in football.
Alston Cobourn (00:18:05)
I'm I would like to talk a little bit about that and then also to, I mean we're you probably didn't have time, but were there any other sort of student organizations or things that you that we were involved in when you're here?
Forrest Foster (00:18:17)
Too, yeah, honestly, know, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:18:22)
The time that we, you know when they say student athlete, they truly mean student athletes. Even back then I think the 90s was the time around the time where it really became big business. You know, as far as you know, NCAA and college athletics and the business and the, you know, the business that goes behind it, sports, athletics.
Alston Cobourn (00:18:27)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:18:44)
Athletic directors and the money that comes in, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:18:49)
Boosters. And you know, there's a lot of.
Forrest Foster (00:18:51)
Stories about you.
Forrest Foster (00:18:52)
Know NCAA violation? Not here, of course, but.
Forrest Foster (00:18:57)
Just the NC, you know, violations of how money.
Forrest Foster (00:19:01)
Transactions and the the the you know the.
Forrest Foster (00:19:06)
The illegal issues that go up behind that, but.
Forrest Foster (00:19:11)
Yeah, we really didn't have much time.
Forrest Foster (00:19:15)
But I found time. I found my own downtime, you know, besides football, the one of the best things that happened to me was.
Forrest Foster (00:19:24)
So we stayed in Scott Hall, which is still up on the hill to this day. I think it had a couple of renovations since I've been there, but.
Alston Cobourn (00:19:27)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:19:33)
We stayed in Scott Hall and the first year I had another football player as my roommate.
Forrest Foster (00:19:40)
The second year.
Forrest Foster (00:19:42)
I had. I had another football player in my roommate the third year. The best. This is the best thing. They're probably one of.
Forrest Foster (00:19:48)
The best things that happened to me was.
Forrest Foster (00:19:50)
I had a non athlete as my roommate.
Forrest Foster (00:19:57)
You know.
Forrest Foster (00:19:58)
As described, I guess a little earlier, but.
Forrest Foster (00:20:01)
I just like the dynamic of change right and so not being around the same thing all the time and not having the same group. I don't have to be around the same group of friends all the time.
Forrest Foster (00:20:12)
And so this individual he's from Concord, NC and.
Forrest Foster (00:20:17)
Just having you know a non football player in the as as of my roommate was a breath of fresh air because that the athletes are are together all the time. You know they it's it's a structured schedule and you wake up, you lift, you do this, you go to class and you come back and you practice and and so you know.
Forrest Foster (00:20:37)
Well, very thankful of the opportunity it it, it gets monotonous and it gets tiring and and so it's good to have and listen and see.
Forrest Foster (00:20:48)
Another person talking about their day that's not related to football. You know, we, you know, we, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:20:56)
We we would, I would come home and or come back to the dorm and.
Forrest Foster (00:21:00)
It just seemed like they had it so easy and.
Forrest Foster (00:21:03)
They're they're in his hands, in his, you know, vision of us was we had it easy because, you know, all we did was practice football all day, right where it seemed like it. And so, you know, we had those conversations, and it just seemed like they had the whole day to just go to class, come home.
Forrest Foster (00:21:21)
Hang out on the yard and you know.
Forrest Foster (00:21:24)
Go to the mall or, you know, go over, you know, go over where they want to go. And it was just, you know, it's two different stories. And so I got to learn his story and we're friends to this day, but.
Forrest Foster (00:21:38)
As far as you know, a lot of it is a blur. I hate to say that it's, you know, I tried to think about it. You know, you talk about events.
Forrest Foster (00:21:48)
And some of the events I remember, I hate to say this, but.
Forrest Foster (00:21:54)
Were, you know, when we did have downtime in the spring?
Forrest Foster (00:21:58)
We would, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:22:01)
ECU had a concert series and they invited a lot of different individuals, but the ones we usually attended were the ones in the spring and the artists I remember was Biz Markie. I don't know if you remember Bismarck, you know the name Bismarck he used to sing.
Forrest Foster (00:22:22)
You. You got what I need? You say he's just a friend. So he came. It was the concert on the the mall and he came. And it was it was. It was great. A lot of people out there and everybody enjoyed it and.
Forrest Foster (00:22:41)
I want to say the red Hot Chili Peppers came. I don't remember what year, but I remember them coming.
Forrest Foster (00:22:49)
I think they were on the mall as well.
Forrest Foster (00:22:52)
So it was really that it, it wasn't, you know, social groups or social clubs or academic groups, but but those are the things.
Forrest Foster (00:22:59)
I remember because.
Alston Cobourn (00:22:59)
Now there are a lot of people who've come and visited campus over the years and a lot in a lot of ways.
Alston Cobourn (00:23:03)
A lot of musicians, so that makes sense.
Forrest Foster (00:23:07)
I think another group called The Lost Boys, they were a rap group. But yeah, those are those are the things that stick out just because it was a, it was an opportunity to.
Forrest Foster (00:23:18)
Get away from football and you know, try to be a regular student, I would say.
Forrest Foster (00:23:25)
So yeah, I mean those are the things I remember as far as the events football wise, I mean you know.
Alston Cobourn (00:23:33)
Yeah. What did you play? Tell us some about. And you were talking about the regular schedule and sort of stuff.
Alston Cobourn (00:23:39)
What? What were some football highlights for you?
Forrest Foster (00:23:41)
Right, I saw. I played defense. I was a cornerback, which you know, cornerback you you cover the receiver and you try to make sure nobody scores on the defense.
Forrest Foster (00:23:55)
I was red shirted my first year, which?
Forrest Foster (00:23:59)
Hindsight, I was thankful for.
Forrest Foster (00:24:03)
Hints. Yeah, well, not hint type, but red shirt means you know, you sit out your first year, so you know in your scholarship you have five years.
Alston Cobourn (00:24:11)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:24:14)
To play and you can. You know, you could you. You could have the option to be red shirted or sit out.
Forrest Foster (00:24:20)
Or you could jump right in and play.
Forrest Foster (00:24:23)
And a lot of us were red shirted, so the first year we were just.
Forrest Foster (00:24:28)
Working out and understanding the whole college life and things and learning about football and making sure right, right, right.
Alston Cobourn (00:24:31)
Yeah, learning some about football.
Alston Cobourn (00:24:34)
And stuff too.
Alston Cobourn (00:24:35)
But not OK.
Forrest Foster (00:24:40)
You know, and plus me coming from outside. I didn't know much about much about ECU. Plus it's been the new experience college, you know, meeting people and.
Forrest Foster (00:24:50)
From different spaces and all walks of life and you know that's a big change, but again.
Forrest Foster (00:24:56)
I was used to that, so I I I invited that, you know, I welcomed that and and I loved it so.
Forrest Foster (00:25:04)
But I played football.
Forrest Foster (00:25:08)
In the first year, even though we were redshirted with my class that I came in.
Forrest Foster (00:25:13)
With we ended up going to the Liberty Bowl in 1995 and we went to Memphis, TN and we played Stanford University. And I remember that.
Alston Cobourn (00:25:23)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:25:30)
We were projected to lose by maybe two or three touchdowns or something like that, and we ended up winning the game. I think like 19 to 13.
Forrest Foster (00:25:39)
Or something like that.
Forrest Foster (00:25:40)
And I think that was a big year for ECU. We had a good team. I think a lot of people.
Forrest Foster (00:25:49)
We're still high on the years before you.
Forrest Foster (00:25:51)
Know the the.
Forrest Foster (00:25:54)
Jeff Blake years and I can't think of the tight ending caught the football in the end zone when they beat NC State, but that was maybe 9192 Luke Fisher, I think. But you know, if you think about it, that's from 95 that's three years ago that was, you know, that was three years in between. So winning the Liberty Bowl was a big deal because.
Forrest Foster (00:26:15)
ECU was, you know, on the cusp of.
Forrest Foster (00:26:19)
I mean the building blocks they were.
Forrest Foster (00:26:21)
Putting things.
Forrest Foster (00:26:23)
And making that transition.
Forrest Foster (00:26:26)
Kind of like what we talked about earlier, trying to go from an R1 to RR2 to R1. You know, that's what we were trying to do at you.
Forrest Foster (00:26:32)
Know and.
Forrest Foster (00:26:32)
Then the football sense was trying to get out of that small school stature and trying to be up there with the the bigger names.
Forrest Foster (00:26:41)
So yeah, and then in 96, I I played a lot. I started a lot and I had a good year.
Forrest Foster (00:26:53)
I'll I'll say this. I think it's something that's not talked about in sports a lot is.
Forrest Foster (00:27:00)
Competing, not competing against your opponent, but competing against.
Forrest Foster (00:27:05)
Other people at your position.
Forrest Foster (00:27:08)
Just just the.
Forrest Foster (00:27:12)
The whole dynamic of you competing for and competing to play.
Forrest Foster (00:27:18)
For position and you have.
Forrest Foster (00:27:22)
Four or five or six other people competing for the same position, so in in 96 or in 95, I can't remember which one is.
Forrest Foster (00:27:33)
There was five. There were five people in front of me.
Forrest Foster (00:27:39)
The starter, who was supposed to start.
Forrest Foster (00:27:43)
Got hurt.
Alston Cobourn (00:27:44)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:27:44)
He was up. He tore his meniscus. Well, he tore his ACL and MCL, not meniscus. I'm sorry. So he was. He was out. The other individual there was one individual that graduated 2 graduated.
Forrest Foster (00:27:59)
So 2 graduated, one got hurt.
Forrest Foster (00:28:01)
I think the other guy was became academically ineligible, so that's maybe 4. So it was it was another guy in front of me and maybe another guy. And so we had to compete and it's it's.
Forrest Foster (00:28:16)
It's a, you know, it's it's I. I don't know how to explain it, but I would love if I could put it on paper. I would love to write a book about how to.
Forrest Foster (00:28:24)
Be able to.
Forrest Foster (00:28:28)
Compete for a position.
Forrest Foster (00:28:34)
Still, keep the team aspect in mind.
Forrest Foster (00:28:37)
Because I know coaches preach and and even as administrators and supervisors, you know, a lot of times we talk about team and you know what's best, how to, you know, collaborate and all this other stuff. But.
Forrest Foster (00:28:51)
When you're competing for one position and you have three or four people that are competing for that one position.
Forrest Foster (00:28:59)
There might be some animosity, there might be some.
Forrest Foster (00:29:06)
Exchanges in regards to.
Forrest Foster (00:29:14)
Because you know.
Forrest Foster (00:29:16)
At that level you're you're, you know everybody at that level has competed before and has probably done well from where they came from.
Alston Cobourn (00:29:22)
Right, right, right.
Forrest Foster (00:29:24)
But when one person you know gets the starting position, how do the other individuals react? Do you react selfishly? Do you become the team you know? And if you do become more of the team?
Forrest Foster (00:29:38)
You still have to, you know, you might not show your feelings towards that individual. You know, it's it's just that just that whole dynamic, you know? And I I haven't been able to put it on paper yet, but I would love to.
Alston Cobourn (00:29:43)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:29:50)
Talking about just the dynamics of of competing with for a particular position.
Alston Cobourn (00:29:54)
Is that something you had dealt with in your high school team? Do you feel like that's less common with high school football than college? Or it depends on?
(00:29:57)
Not so much.
Forrest Foster (00:30:02)
The place I think it depends, I think right, I think in high school.
Alston Cobourn (00:30:03)
OK.
Alston Cobourn (00:30:04)
Was just curious.
Forrest Foster (00:30:06)
For me it was. It was.
Forrest Foster (00:30:10)
It was a little easier to stand out, I think just because where I was.
Forrest Foster (00:30:17)
The situation that presented itself, whereas now you know you have people who you know they've been offered a scholarship too. You know, they they practice too. They're good too, you know. They're on scholarship as well. So.
Alston Cobourn (00:30:24)
Yeah, right. Right, right.
Alston Cobourn (00:30:27)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Forrest Foster (00:30:32)
You know, learning to be teammates and you know, you know and you know, and understanding that as in work you might, you don't have to like the individual and the individual doesn't have to like you. Now, of course it helps.
Forrest Foster (00:30:44)
If you do, it helps them around, right? But there are some spaces in life where you.
Forrest Foster (00:30:49)
You know, you may not end up liking your coworker, but you still have to.
Forrest Foster (00:30:55)
Have results right?
Forrest Foster (00:30:59)
And even deciding that OK, even though you do have an understanding that this is our situation.
Forrest Foster (00:31:05)
How does that, you know, affect us off the field? So when we are in the cab or where we are in the dorm or we are in somewhere else, are we still amicable or are we?
Forrest Foster (00:31:18)
You know.
Forrest Foster (00:31:20)
Glaring at each other or we not being friendly to each other or we not being so you know, just those different types of things and everything else that feeds into that you know.
Forrest Foster (00:31:33)
Other players and.
Forrest Foster (00:31:40)
Yeah, just just the whole dynamics you know.
Forrest Foster (00:31:45)
So yeah, I would love to write some type of analogy or correlation between, you know, the workplace and.
Forrest Foster (00:31:54)
Getting along in the workplace, workplace environments, workplace, relationships, coins.
Forrest Foster (00:32:00)
Siding with those same dynamics in certain sports.
Forrest Foster (00:32:06)
Places in sports. So. But I've. Yeah, I played in 96, six. We had a great year. Eight and three. We didn't go to a bowl though. A lot of people were upset a.
Forrest Foster (00:32:15)
Lot of.
Forrest Foster (00:32:15)
The fans were upset at the time coach Logan was the coach and I heard he's back in 94.3 with Henry Hinton and Patrick Johnson now.
Forrest Foster (00:32:27)
I don't know how often they, I guess maybe every Saturday now because that's when.
Forrest Foster (00:32:30)
They play.
Forrest Foster (00:32:30)
But I think I saw something on Twitter.
Forrest Foster (00:32:35)
But we had a great year.
Forrest Foster (00:32:39)
We beat Miami and of course that at that time Miami was, you know, powerhouse in the 90s and the 80s.
Forrest Foster (00:32:47)
And we went down there, we beat them and we were, we thought EC was just sitting high and we were. But at the end of the year, we we didn't make a bowl. And this is again put some context to this.
Forrest Foster (00:33:00)
You know, back then, bowls were, like, really important. It's not kind of like where it is now, where?
Alston Cobourn (00:33:04)
You have like 50 bowls. There weren't as many, yeah.
Forrest Foster (00:33:06)
Right. And everybody seemed like goes to a bowl now, but.
Forrest Foster (00:33:10)
Back then, you know, you might have had.
Forrest Foster (00:33:13)
Maybe 1518 bolts.
Forrest Foster (00:33:17)
And usually you know you had to win the conference to go to a bowl and maybe second in your division, you know, but.
Forrest Foster (00:33:27)
We missed out on the bow.
Forrest Foster (00:33:29)
And then the next year, 97, we didn't have a great year. We had a lot of internal issues, a lot of players.
Forrest Foster (00:33:39)
Who didn't, really.
Forrest Foster (00:33:42)
I don't know. I don't know what? What happened. I know Coach Logan used to say we had a lot of selfish players, but you know, I just think we didn't. We didn't come together as a team. Well, and we ended up with the losing record. We had great athletes.
Forrest Foster (00:33:59)
But we just couldn't put it all together. But what? What happened that year was, which was very which?
Forrest Foster (00:34:07)
Is telling now.
Forrest Foster (00:34:09)
Of what's going on now is.
Forrest Foster (00:34:12)
There were some talks of conference alignments at that time.
Forrest Foster (00:34:19)
We weren't in a conference in 95 well.
Forrest Foster (00:34:22)
Prior to 97 and so we started.
Forrest Foster (00:34:27)
In the conference call, Conference USA.
Forrest Foster (00:34:30)
And a lot of people were really thinking we should be in the Big East at the time, which was back then was a traditional basketball conference. But at the time, you know, we were playing those schools that were in that conference. The Syracuse is the Miami's, the Boston colleges, the West Virginia. We played just about all those schools every year besides Boston College.
Alston Cobourn (00:34:44)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:34:50)
And we were competitive, we beat Miami, we beat Syracuse, so.
Forrest Foster (00:34:57)
Where we were competing with Syracuse at that time. But.
Forrest Foster (00:35:01)
So I think that kind of started.
Forrest Foster (00:35:08)
I guess the NCAA's.
Forrest Foster (00:35:10)
Vision of East Carolina when we.
Forrest Foster (00:35:12)
Got and again we I don't.
Forrest Foster (00:35:14)
I think.
Forrest Foster (00:35:15)
Honestly, I don't think we had because you know when you're trying to put your school in a conference, you have to look at a lot of things. It's just not the football program. You have to look at all the programs. So whether it's the non revenue sports or the revenue sports, you have to look at everything across the board, how much you know attendance is coming to the game, how much.
Forrest Foster (00:35:31)
Attendance is.
Forrest Foster (00:35:32)
Going to the way games so.
Forrest Foster (00:35:36)
In hindsight, I guess the bigger picture is it wasn't just football, it's it's all of the programs and I guess.
Forrest Foster (00:35:43)
All the programs collectively wasn't a good fit, I guess financially for the Big East, but I mean missing that I think.
Forrest Foster (00:35:53)
Has created this.
Forrest Foster (00:35:56)
Lack of progression for ECU over the years, I think because there's been two other two or three other.
Forrest Foster (00:36:02)
Movements in in in conference realignment that ECU has kind of missed out on.
Forrest Foster (00:36:10)
Now they always end up in a conference, but it's not the conference that would propel us for it. I think or could have propelled us forward over the years, but that was the first one. We went to Comfort USA and.
Forrest Foster (00:36:25)
I think we went five and six and 97 and then 98 we went.
Forrest Foster (00:36:28)
6:00 and 5:00.
Forrest Foster (00:36:31)
And then in 99, we went nine and three, which was probably our best year when I was there, we ended up going to the Mobile Bowl.
Forrest Foster (00:36:45)
We played TCU, Texas, Christian. I think they had Ladainian Tomlinson now. I mean, they had Ladainian Tomlinson who was, if not a Hall of Famer in the NFL, it will be soon, but.
Forrest Foster (00:36:58)
We lost by two touchdowns, I think.
Forrest Foster (00:37:01)
But we had a great year. I had a great career.
Forrest Foster (00:37:07)
You know, I was fortunate to play and.
Forrest Foster (00:37:12)
And a lot of great places in the front of a lot of great people.
Alston Cobourn (00:37:16)
Was coach Logan here the whole time you were?
Forrest Foster (00:37:18)
He was there the whole time, and that's that's different too, you know, now, you know, you don't see, you know, I think he came.
Alston Cobourn (00:37:18)
Here. Yeah, that's fine.
Forrest Foster (00:37:24)
In 91 or 90.
Forrest Foster (00:37:26)
So, and I think he actually ended up leaving in 2003, 2002. So, you know, a 10 year that long.
Forrest Foster (00:37:33)
In the 90s was was definitely, you know, not the norm and especially now but.
Forrest Foster (00:37:41)
Yeah, thankful for the opportunity. Thank for all the coaches. A lot of times you know.
Forrest Foster (00:37:46)
You really don't talk to the head coach. You know, you might see him in the hallway or, you know, talk to him on the field every blue moon. But.
Forrest Foster (00:37:54)
Your position coach is really the coach that coaches.
Forrest Foster (00:37:57)
You. So if you're a quarterback and you have a quarterback coach, you're really in tune with your quarterback, your offensive line and your offensive line. The coach is really the one that you connect with because you know head coach isn't really.
Forrest Foster (00:38:12)
There to be in your group day-to-day or daily. So but I had a, you know, Paul Jett and I think his daughter actually went here.
Forrest Foster (00:38:20)
And he was my, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:38:23)
Position coach, as they call it and just a lot of great coaches, they had a great experience.
Alston Cobourn (00:38:24)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:38:31)
Fortunate to set some records here and that are still standing, and I'm proud of that.
Alston Cobourn (00:38:38)
Which ones?
Forrest Foster (00:38:39)
So you know, there's. I don't, there's a. So you have interceptions. You know, you catch the ball, you take the ball away from the offense, but then you have the pass deflection where you knock the ball down so.
Alston Cobourn (00:38:49)
Yes, yes.
Forrest Foster (00:38:54)
So I think I have the most past deflections.
Forrest Foster (00:38:57)
In a year and in a game and maybe a season as well.
Forrest Foster (00:39:02)
So yeah, take pride in that, you know? Yeah. She said. Good job. So yeah. I mean, you know, you, you know, you know, so.
Alston Cobourn (00:39:06)
Good job.
Alston Cobourn (00:39:09)
I mean, we should take pride in that.
(00:39:10)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:39:13)
Yeah, you know, anytime you put some blood, sweat and tears and you know people, you know, someone gives.
Forrest Foster (00:39:18)
You just a.
Forrest Foster (00:39:20)
A university gives you opportunity to, you know, make the most out of your talent.
Forrest Foster (00:39:26)
You know you want to put everything into it, you know? So you know, you can look back on it and tell your kids or whomever your brother or your family.
Forrest Foster (00:39:33)
Look, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:39:35)
This is what happens when you you you know you like what you do and you focused.
Forrest Foster (00:39:38)
On what you're doing and.
Forrest Foster (00:39:41)
Are you competing with other individuals? You're competing against other teams and and yourself and yourself right to try to get better and without hurting yourself, right? So. And that's part of the game, you know, getting hurt. But yeah, so.
Forrest Foster (00:39:58)
And you just.
Forrest Foster (00:39:58)
Try to, you know, share those stories with the kids.
Forrest Foster (00:40:01)
To get them to understand that you know.
Forrest Foster (00:40:07)
You know you you want to.
Forrest Foster (00:40:13)
You know, set goals you want to.
Forrest Foster (00:40:17)
Focus on something, regardless of what it is, doesn't have to be sports. It could be anything. It could be anything, but find something you like and do it to the best you can, right?
Forrest Foster (00:40:29)
And just just maximize until it's full of potential.
Forrest Foster (00:40:33)
And so.
Forrest Foster (00:40:35)
You know, those are stories I try to share with them and I tell them all the time. You know, you don't have to play football, but you're not going to be on the iPad all day either. So you.
Forrest Foster (00:40:45)
Got to.
Forrest Foster (00:40:46)
Do something right.
Forrest Foster (00:40:48)
Whether it's Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts.
Forrest Foster (00:40:53)
Whatever you're going to do something when you come home. So find out what you like.
Forrest Foster (00:40:58)
Expose yourself to do things and try new things and do it. If you don't like it, let's do something else. But we're not going to come home and we're not going to be on the iPad for three hours. It's just just not going to work. There's more to life than the iPad, so.
Forrest Foster (00:41:15)
So find out what it is and let's let's do it right. So experience life there's there's, you know, you only get to live once. So and it goes quick. So let's get off the iPad. But anyway.
Forrest Foster (00:41:31)
So in 99 or excuse me, let me back up. Back up. I'm sorry, 1998.
Forrest Foster (00:41:40)
In the fall of 98, so this is my junior year, I got ahead of.
Forrest Foster (00:41:44)
Myself in December of 1998, the season was over. We were six and five. We didn't go to.
Forrest Foster (00:41:52)
A bowl.
Forrest Foster (00:41:53)
And so December and we, we get to go home with the regular kids, right? So we don't go to a bowl, we don't have to work out so.
Forrest Foster (00:42:00)
Finally, get a chance to call him.
Forrest Foster (00:42:02)
And so.
Forrest Foster (00:42:05)
My mother passes away. She had breast cancer and so.
Forrest Foster (00:42:10)
They didn't tell me the full story.
Forrest Foster (00:42:13)
But you know, they told me, I think. And they they told me around 96 that, you know, there was something going on and she had cancer.
Forrest Foster (00:42:19)
But you know, being the parents that they are, you know, at that time they, you know, I think they shielded me from a lot of information.
Forrest Foster (00:42:32)
As I've gotten older, I I've gotten upset over that, but I also understand it at the same time being.
Forrest Foster (00:42:38)
A parent now.
Forrest Foster (00:42:41)
But it's always a a dual of, you know, a dual conflict that I have in regards to.
Forrest Foster (00:42:48)
You know how much of information they should have shared as opposed to, you know, what they shared.
Forrest Foster (00:42:58)
You know, just understanding now, you know, as a parent you.
Forrest Foster (00:43:02)
You know, you make decisions and you and you go with it, right? You know you.
Forrest Foster (00:43:07)
You can you can talk about it. You know my dad still living. And we talked about it. You know, the decisions that they made in regards to the information being shared but.
Forrest Foster (00:43:18)
You know, they they try to do what's best at the time. And and I understand that. But she passed away in 98 and.
Forrest Foster (00:43:28)
I don't think at the time I knew, you know, I was still fairly young. I was probably 19, maybe 20 and.
Forrest Foster (00:43:37)
You know I didn't.
Forrest Foster (00:43:39)
I didn't understand the impact. You know, I'm still, I was trying to engulf myself with the college life in football. I don't think I really.
Forrest Foster (00:43:45)
Had the the.
Forrest Foster (00:43:46)
Proper morning. I should have had, right. And then I see that.
Forrest Foster (00:43:51)
Now, with a lot of adults, you know it's when something happens or when someone dies, we try to keep ourselves busy or try to.
Forrest Foster (00:44:01)
Because I mean, that's kind of the.
Forrest Foster (00:44:02)
Culture too, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:44:03)
Keep keep, keep grinding or keep pounding and you know, work through it and it'll be OK.
Forrest Foster (00:44:07)
But no, I think you know with this.
Forrest Foster (00:44:11)
With you know this, you know this this new awareness of mental health and you know.
Forrest Foster (00:44:18)
I think it's brought a lot of attention to a lot of those things, how to properly more than how to take care of yourself and when that call time out and when to really sit down and and assess what's going on so.
Forrest Foster (00:44:33)
But yeah, back then I I didn't. You know I did.
Forrest Foster (00:44:37)
And and then too I one of my strengths too was good. I was good at putting things behind me.
Forrest Foster (00:44:45)
And I think that was, you know, that became another.
Forrest Foster (00:44:49)
Check box. You know my mother passes, OK.
Forrest Foster (00:44:52)
I understand what's going on, but I I really don't warn.
Forrest Foster (00:44:57)
What it didn't mourn what happened? But I was good at, OK?
Forrest Foster (00:45:02)
I was good at conquering things.
Forrest Foster (00:45:05)
But just like a game, we have another game, so I need to get ready for that game, right? So yes, I did well this game and this is going great. We won OK, but we still got another game in six days. So let's.
Forrest Foster (00:45:15)
Right. You make a mistake on the field. Don't worry about it. Keep it going. Right. So that was always.
Forrest Foster (00:45:19)
My mindset.
Forrest Foster (00:45:22)
And that can have even though that works in certain areas.
Forrest Foster (00:45:26)
That could be detrimental in certain areas too, because you know.
Forrest Foster (00:45:30)
Number one, you don't sometimes celebrate the little.
Forrest Foster (00:45:33)
Victories. But then two, if you have a certain failure, you don't really assess the failure. You just keep it moving.
Forrest Foster (00:45:43)
So it's funny how that works. You know, just.
Forrest Foster (00:45:45)
It it it works on certain things but it doesn't work.
Forrest Foster (00:45:49)
In certain areas as well too, you know, long term wise but.
Forrest Foster (00:45:55)
Sorry 98, I I the coach is fine and I guess my dad.
Forrest Foster (00:46:00)
The coaches, so the new year comes around. So it's 99, everybody singing the Prince song. That's all I remember on campus 1999.
Forrest Foster (00:46:13)
That's funny how that sticks out, but that's.
Alston Cobourn (00:46:15)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Forrest Foster (00:46:15)
That's what I remember.
Forrest Foster (00:46:19)
So that spring we decide or some of my friends wanted to go to.
Forrest Foster (00:46:26)
The biggest club, I can't think of. It's in Florida. It's over by one of the beaches. I can't think of the name of it, but.
Forrest Foster (00:46:34)
It's near, not. It's not in Pensacola, but it's it's maybe.
Forrest Foster (00:46:38)
An hour from Pensacola, but it's supposed to be the biggest.
Forrest Foster (00:46:41)
Club in the world or something? I don't know.
Forrest Foster (00:46:44)
But so.
Forrest Foster (00:46:46)
I didn't want to go just because of everything that's going on.
Forrest Foster (00:46:50)
And they told me, well, if you don't go, we're not going.
Forrest Foster (00:46:56)
So I said, well, that's not fair. You know, that's that's not fair. But I you know, I just kind of wanted to relax and just take it easy lot of.
Forrest Foster (00:47:06)
Things had happened and.
Forrest Foster (00:47:09)
But I.
Alston Cobourn (00:47:09)
Ended up going. You weren't feeling like a.
Forrest Foster (00:47:11)
Party, right? Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was just. It was just.
Forrest Foster (00:47:17)
Definitely not that, but I didn't. I didn't want, you know, when they said that I didn't want that pressure on me either, though. That's like that wasn't.
Forrest Foster (00:47:23)
Fair. You know what I mean? But.
Forrest Foster (00:47:27)
But I ended up going.
Forrest Foster (00:47:29)
Because I think I I kind of wanted to go. I didn't want to, you know, be in a in a box and just.
Forrest Foster (00:47:37)
You know, going through the motions so, but I didn't really want to go either. So but I went.
Forrest Foster (00:47:44)
And I don't remember anything about the trip, I just remember.
Forrest Foster (00:47:47)
I went.
Forrest Foster (00:47:49)
You know, it's funny how you remember certain. I mean, I remember certain things, but it wasn't. It wasn't the blast that, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:47:58)
I remember it, or it was supposed to be. I just remember going, and I remember coming back.
Forrest Foster (00:48:03)
And just like everything else, you know, regular schedule, the schedule continues, life continues. You know you have classes.
Forrest Foster (00:48:15)
And so in 99, I graduated, yeah.
Forrest Foster (00:48:21)
And so again, that was a big deal. Of course. My mother was at the mission. So to talk about graduate was always big. My father was there and my brother was there. And so that was it was a good time that.
Forrest Foster (00:48:36)
Was May of 99 and.
Forrest Foster (00:48:39)
Had ceremony on the football field.
Forrest Foster (00:48:42)
And family came up and.
Forrest Foster (00:48:47)
You know you.
Forrest Foster (00:48:48)
Check, you know checking off the box, right? Check it off the list. Right, right.
Forrest Foster (00:48:52)
Of passage so.
Forrest Foster (00:48:54)
So now I have.
Forrest Foster (00:48:59)
Right. I have one more year left because I red shirted, so the fall of 99 was when we went to the.
Alston Cobourn (00:49:02)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:49:08)
The mobile, but we had a great year. We beat Miami again. We beat Duke, we beat all the quote UN quote decent schools.
Forrest Foster (00:49:18)
Beat South Carolina and beat West Virginia.
Forrest Foster (00:49:23)
And so yeah, I mean, you know the program.
Forrest Foster (00:49:26)
Was back and coach Logan was still the coach and.
Forrest Foster (00:49:31)
The turn of the century, you know, hitting, getting ready to go to.
Forrest Foster (00:49:33)
2000 and.
Forrest Foster (00:49:36)
And so I graduated.
Forrest Foster (00:49:39)
Well, I didn't graduate. I already graduated, but I had that extra year and so I needed to determine what I needed to do.
Alston Cobourn (00:49:43)
Yeah. How did that work?
Forrest Foster (00:49:47)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:49:47)
So you know at that time.
Forrest Foster (00:49:50)
You know you have a good year. You had a good career. Everyone is talking about going pro, right? So.
Forrest Foster (00:49:57)
We have workouts. There was a number of about 6 schools, number of teams that came down, the New York Giants came down.
Forrest Foster (00:50:07)
The Cleveland Browns came down and we all worked out, you know, the the seniors worked out and you know, the Panthers came and had a good showing, you know, but didn't get drafted.
Forrest Foster (00:50:20)
Didn't get any type of free agency.
Forrest Foster (00:50:23)
And I think you know, I was OK with it. There were some other players that did.
Forrest Foster (00:50:30)
Of course, you always wish you had opportunity to try, but I didn't get the opportunity.
Forrest Foster (00:50:36)
But I I think I think I was OK because you know that wasn't always the goal.
Forrest Foster (00:50:44)
Not saying that I I didn't have a goals or I had goals, but that that wasn't.
Forrest Foster (00:50:48)
The goal I think the more and more I played, I was always surprised.
Forrest Foster (00:50:55)
Yeah, cause from high school to college. I I was just happy to get to college. Right. And then in college, you know?
Forrest Foster (00:51:03)
You know, it's funny, too. In college, it's like, as I said before, you see all these guys, these tall, big guys and athletic guys and.
Forrest Foster (00:51:11)
You know, you're just trying to see if you can compete at that time, right? Then you when you find out that you really can do a job right, that you can do something, whatever it is from A-Z. You know that confidence is there. And so you learn that.
Forrest Foster (00:51:26)
Not only you're not different from them, but you might be a little better than them at what?
Forrest Foster (00:51:31)
You do, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:51:33)
Whether it's, you know, work, or whether it's sports or whatever it is, right?
Forrest Foster (00:51:37)
And so, you know, you find out. Well, I found out that, you know, I'm.
Forrest Foster (00:51:45)
You know, I can compete with these guys, right? And if not, compete and probably you know, a little better than somebody's got.
Forrest Foster (00:51:52)
And so.
Forrest Foster (00:51:55)
You know, you, you, you, you carry that and you, you know, you go through the three or four years of your career and then the next thing you know you you had a pretty good career.
Forrest Foster (00:52:04)
And so the next talk is, OK, well, what about Pearl? So me Pearl never thought about going pro, you know, you see all these people on TV and you know Deon Sanders and Joe Montana.
Forrest Foster (00:52:15)
I mean, if the opportunity presents something else, yes, but that's just not. That wasn't like the goal. You know, if the opportunity happens, then yeah, but that.
Forrest Foster (00:52:24)
Wasn't the goal.
Forrest Foster (00:52:26)
And so I think that's when.
Forrest Foster (00:52:29)
The turn of century. You know you have the dot.
Forrest Foster (00:52:31)
Coms. You had the tech and the online. And I remember the e-mail came out in 9596 and I remember us around 96 going to the computer labs and just on the weekends we just stayed on the chat sites all weekend, the whole weekend.
Forrest Foster (00:52:49)
It was just it was it.
Forrest Foster (00:52:50)
Was so amazing.
Forrest Foster (00:52:51)
Yeah, right. Create your own account and you chat with somebody from Kalamazoo, MI or or you know, whatever and.
Forrest Foster (00:53:00)
But we would sell those things for hours.
Forrest Foster (00:53:03)
And just meeting people, well, we don't know who I mean, to be honest with it.
Alston Cobourn (00:53:07)
Right, right. Yeah.
Forrest Foster (00:53:07)
Could be anybody, but you know, just thinking about those experiences and.
Forrest Foster (00:53:16)
The computer lab in Brewster. There was a computer lab in which used to be acock. I can't. I don't know. What is it, Lewis? Legacy. There was a computer lab in the bottom. I'm not even sure if it's there anymore. But.
Alston Cobourn (00:53:22)
Legacy hall.
Alston Cobourn (00:53:25)
Yeah, legacy.
Forrest Foster (00:53:31)
We would just stay down there for hours and just.
Forrest Foster (00:53:35)
Explore, you know and.
Forrest Foster (00:53:39)
So not sure where I was going with that, but thewhole.com thing and just the background of what I have being with my mom.
Forrest Foster (00:53:47)
I said, you know, I'm just.
Forrest Foster (00:53:50)
You know, just trying to figure things out in regards to what I you know, trying to figure out what I like, so I said.
Forrest Foster (00:53:55)
I'm gonna.
Forrest Foster (00:53:56)
Do the grad school right and get my MLS?
Forrest Foster (00:54:00)
Now again, we talked about this earlier, you know, East Carolina had a Masters program in my last program, but it wasn't accredited, so.
Forrest Foster (00:54:10)
This is where things get interesting. So.
Forrest Foster (00:54:13)
I do a little bit of.
Forrest Foster (00:54:13)
Digging, I talk to some people.
Forrest Foster (00:54:16)
And they said that.
Alston Cobourn (00:54:20)
In South Central.
Forrest Foster (00:54:20)
As in, see North Carolina Central University.
Forrest Foster (00:54:26)
In Durham has a an accredited MLS program. So what we started doing was.
Forrest Foster (00:54:32)
Started interning here.
Forrest Foster (00:54:36)
In the library, I don't know if you remember Carol Varner. He was the director. You might have heard.
Forrest Foster (00:54:41)
Of that name, OK.
Alston Cobourn (00:54:41)
Yes, yes.
Forrest Foster (00:54:42)
He was the director here at the time.
Forrest Foster (00:54:45)
And he was also teaching a class. I think he was teaching library.
Forrest Foster (00:54:49)
Administration or something?
Forrest Foster (00:54:51)
And so I got into the program, we back up a little bit. I had to take.
Forrest Foster (00:54:58)
The GRE or the the mats? Excuse me, the Miller.
Alston Cobourn (00:54:59)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:55:01)
Test I took both but for some reason I remember the the math for a reason I.
Forrest Foster (00:55:09)
Guess it was all analogies.
Forrest Foster (00:55:11)
And I remember.
Forrest Foster (00:55:14)
I remember passing it.
Forrest Foster (00:55:19)
And it's just, you know, I remember that.
Forrest Foster (00:55:22)
You know, I remember standardized tests being a big thing. You know back then.
Forrest Foster (00:55:26)
And you know, because it was kind of like the gateway to the next, you know something. So but I remember passing that I remember feeling really good about that.
Forrest Foster (00:55:37)
Just because it opened up another door, you know I was.
Forrest Foster (00:55:42)
I was pretty, you know, at that time I I finished football.
Forrest Foster (00:55:47)
Things needed to happen, you know, and also too your scholarship. My scholarship was up in the spring.
Forrest Foster (00:55:54)
So in May of.
Forrest Foster (00:55:57)
99 was over and so in May of 2000.
Forrest Foster (00:56:02)
You are pretty much let go from the program. You kind of just you're on your.
Forrest Foster (00:56:06)
Own and there's a lot of individuals that.
Forrest Foster (00:56:11)
Don't adjust well to that because they haven't.
Alston Cobourn (00:56:13)
OK.
Forrest Foster (00:56:15)
Playing properly about life after football and that's a big conversation. That's always been a big conversation you've been on, you've been dependent on the program for so long, it kind of give you the structure, but.
Alston Cobourn (00:56:27)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:56:29)
At the time, you know in, in, in, in some programs I can talk about ours.
Forrest Foster (00:56:35)
Our program did a lot of things great, but.
Forrest Foster (00:56:38)
There wasn't much talk about life after football, you know.
Forrest Foster (00:56:42)
Because you would have to get a job, you got to get a, you know, apartment if you didn't.
Forrest Foster (00:56:47)
Have an.
Forrest Foster (00:56:47)
Apartment just you know, and then it cuts abruptly to, you know, it's not a incremental or gradual process of of wanting out.
Alston Cobourn (00:56:52)
Right.
Forrest Foster (00:56:58)
You know the football experience, it's.
Forrest Foster (00:57:01)
You know you have four months to really figure it out and when May comes, it's.
Forrest Foster (00:57:06)
You're on your own, you know. No more Pats on the back. There's no more good jobs.
Forrest Foster (00:57:11)
There's no more come back to the, you know, your schedule of 9/10 8:00 when you know it's over.
Forrest Foster (00:57:17)
And there was no like class for that there.
Forrest Foster (00:57:20)
Was no.
Forrest Foster (00:57:22)
You know.
Forrest Foster (00:57:24)
A liaison to help students or student athletes say, OK, So what do you have lined up or there's no resource officer? There was no counselor to. There were counselors. Bills more for academics. But it wasn't like a life coach, I would say.
Alston Cobourn (00:57:32)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Alston Cobourn (00:57:36)
Right, right.
Forrest Foster (00:57:39)
And so, you know, now looking back on it it it that that you know that hurt.
Forrest Foster (00:57:46)
That affected a lot of individuals because a lot of them, when they had, they had goals for going professional. But then I mean that, you know, that should be the last of their words is because not only.
Forrest Foster (00:57:59)
It's football cut off and you don't make pro.
Forrest Foster (00:58:05)
You have no job because you've been. You have been focusing on it or you're focused on something else, and then you just you just there's a lot of question marks.
Forrest Foster (00:58:14)
That that.
Forrest Foster (00:58:17)
That connection to football is gone. You know that you've been so dependent on probably since maybe you were in 6th grade.
Forrest Foster (00:58:24)
You know, not just the last.
Forrest Foster (00:58:25)
Four years.
Forrest Foster (00:58:25)
But you know whenever you start.
Forrest Foster (00:58:29)
And so and then too, if you see your friends progressing in in other areas depending on you know who you are, that could affect you that could add more fuel to the fire. You know, so.
Forrest Foster (00:58:44)
So you know, preparing for so that passing that test was.
Forrest Foster (00:58:48)
For me was big because.
Forrest Foster (00:58:52)
I could I could start the next phase.
Forrest Foster (00:58:58)
And so I remember like I was. That was like.
Forrest Foster (00:59:02)
You know, winning, you know, that was like rejoicing because, you know, I don't have to wait another month or two months and you know, it'll push everything back.
Forrest Foster (00:59:20)
So I took the score and I submitted it to whoever to the school and I had all my references. I had all my stuff and.
Forrest Foster (00:59:28)
Got in the library program and.
Forrest Foster (00:59:32)
Well, I started here ECU cause I took the foundation courses here.
Alston Cobourn (00:59:34)
OK.
Alston Cobourn (00:59:36)
OK, OK.
Forrest Foster (00:59:37)
But then there was some, you know, the issues came in with the electives, I think.
Forrest Foster (00:59:41)
As far as their.
Alston Cobourn (00:59:41)
Their and so you were playing football here while you were doing.
Forrest Foster (00:59:42)
Predication base.
Forrest Foster (00:59:46)
I took.
Alston Cobourn (00:59:47)
The foundations stuff for your masters.
Forrest Foster (00:59:48)
I took. I took a I took a couple core classes right in 90 in the fall of 90.
Alston Cobourn (00:59:50)
As part of.
Alston Cobourn (00:59:50)
That fifth year.
Forrest Foster (00:59:56)
And in the spring.
Forrest Foster (00:59:59)
I started the NC Central so I was I was gearing up for that. But again, remember and now it's a it's a it's a common.
Forrest Foster (01:00:09)
Buzzword you know, distance education, but that was like the crutch.
Forrest Foster (01:00:15)
We call them satellite class. This is how old I.
Alston Cobourn (01:00:17)
Yes, yes, I see.
Forrest Foster (01:00:18)
Am so the satellite would turn in the direction of where Durham is, and it'll reach the signal. And we just thought it was the greatest thing ever. We would sit in the class. Actually, the class was in the.
Forrest Foster (01:00:29)
Right across. I don't know if it's still right across the street there in the library school of the department.
Alston Cobourn (01:00:34)
Uh, no, I don't. It's not over anymore.
Forrest Foster (01:00:35)
Yeah. Yeah, so.
Alston Cobourn (01:00:38)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:00:39)
We would sit in the class and satellite return. Well, I couldn't see the satellite, but that's what.
Forrest Foster (01:00:44)
They said happened.
Forrest Foster (01:00:44)
So it would turn in the signal it reached, you know, just the satellite. We just thought that was. This is education has changed, you know. And so the guy come up on the screen Doctor Ballard and he would talk about whatever he was talking about.
Forrest Foster (01:00:59)
You take Care now.
Forrest Foster (01:01:01)
That will be the glass, you know, 6 to 9 sitting in there from 6:00 to 9:00. So that's what it was. I didn't have any day classes. Everything was 6 to 9, so it might be Monday. Tuesday. When, so it didn't mess with the football schedule, which was great. But I had to stay from 6 to 9 or 6 to 8 or whatever it was.
Forrest Foster (01:01:23)
So I graduated from central technically, but I started here.
Alston Cobourn (01:01:26)
Thank you.
Forrest Foster (01:01:29)
And in 2001, I graduated. But between that time, after I finished playing football and I graduated, I was working here. I was working here.
Forrest Foster (01:01:41)
And Jan was a reference librarian.
Alston Cobourn (01:01:44)
Yeah, Jim Lewis.
Forrest Foster (01:01:45)
Jane Lewis Ali Ali Abdallah he was the head of reference. I'm not sure where he is now. These are just some names I remember.
Forrest Foster (01:01:54)
I remember sue heisel.
Forrest Foster (01:02:00)
David Durant.
Alston Cobourn (01:02:02)
Who is still here? Yeah, he's the government documents library.
Forrest Foster (01:02:03)
Is it really?
Forrest Foster (01:02:05)
He's still over government documents. Yeah, I remember.
Forrest Foster (01:02:12)
I remember some people in systems I can't think of her name. Barbara. I think she was.
Forrest Foster (01:02:16)
The admin admin assistant.
Forrest Foster (01:02:21)
Carolyn Willis.
Forrest Foster (01:02:23)
Alan Bailey.
Alston Cobourn (01:02:24)
Alan just retired. Like what? What? Last year?
Forrest Foster (01:02:26)
Alan just retired, all right? And those are some of the names, but.
Forrest Foster (01:02:34)
Yeah. So.
Forrest Foster (01:02:38)
I worked here part time and then I also do an internship so I could provide myself both ways which ended up being great. And then I also received the academic scholarship, the patron scholarship. Hey, it's coming back full circle. The little plaque.
Alston Cobourn (01:02:51)
Outside, yes.
Forrest Foster (01:02:54)
So between that the internship and then the part time job.
Forrest Foster (01:02:59)
I thought I was.
Forrest Foster (01:03:02)
I thought I was rich. I thought I had abundance of, you know, finances coming in, even though, you know, a lot of it paid for the courses. But at that time, I mean, if I had an extra 200.
Forrest Foster (01:03:12)
Dollars in my pocket. I thought I was.
Forrest Foster (01:03:14)
This is great. You know, this is great. So I don't know.
Alston Cobourn (01:03:17)
Well, what was your position?
Forrest Foster (01:03:17)
With different things.
Alston Cobourn (01:03:20)
In the library like what kind of what? Generally what part of?
Forrest Foster (01:03:22)
The so I know I work in government documents.
Alston Cobourn (01:03:25)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:03:27)
I was. I was. Uh.
Forrest Foster (01:03:31)
We were, I was checking websites so they were. They weren't called Lib guides. There were, there were.
Forrest Foster (01:03:35)
Websites at the time and I was to make sure that the URL's were were were up to were up to date. I was editing the actual information on the.
Alston Cobourn (01:03:36)
Yes. Yeah.
Forrest Foster (01:03:48)
The content that would go up.
Forrest Foster (01:03:51)
So it was kind.
Forrest Foster (01:03:51)
Of what I, you know, kind of along the lines I wanted to do, but not really you know, I mean on paper it was what I wanted.
Forrest Foster (01:03:59)
You know that.
Forrest Foster (01:04:00)
But you know, you know it wasn't right. It wasn't the socialization that I was getting because I was. I was, remember, I was it.
Forrest Foster (01:04:07)
Was more desperate.
Forrest Foster (01:04:08)
But it was fine. You know, I was trying to figure things out, but I was just happy that.
Forrest Foster (01:04:14)
I was in the program and things were working.
Forrest Foster (01:04:18)
And my internship, I can't remember what I was, and I probably do a little bit of everything. I know I worked with Jan a couple of times.
Forrest Foster (01:04:24)
And I know I worked with maybe Cirque. You know, I was just kind of bouncing around.
Forrest Foster (01:04:30)
But but the goal though was to get back into coaching or get into coaching that back but into coaching.
Forrest Foster (01:04:37)
And so.
Forrest Foster (01:04:40)
Once I got the degree, the plan was to get back and get into coaching that back because.
Forrest Foster (01:04:45)
I haven't done it before, so I talked with the coaches here and they said, well, if there's a a GA spot open for you, sure we can do that. Can you let me know if there be a spot?
Forrest Foster (01:04:56)
Open let me know so the way it ended up was that.
Forrest Foster (01:05:01)
You know, you usually do 2 years for a GA, so the guy that was there.
Forrest Foster (01:05:05)
Was getting ready to leave that next year so so everything mapped out well. So by the time I would graduate from the the library science program, I could the next year, which would be 2001, I would be coaching or gaming with the team.
Forrest Foster (01:05:22)
And so everything worked out.
Forrest Foster (01:05:26)
I was finished with my degree. I finished my internship. I, you know, had a little change. So I went back to coach.
Forrest Foster (01:05:33)
With the team we did, I I think they did. OK, I don't know. But the goal is to coach.
Forrest Foster (01:05:39)
And so I coached Coach Logan was still there and so.
Alston Cobourn (01:05:44)
What type of coaching like the physician thing you're talking about?
Forrest Foster (01:05:46)
I was, yeah, I was coaching the secondary, but I wasn't the the main. I wasn't. The secondary was just the graduate assistant.
Alston Cobourn (01:05:52)
Yeah, right. Right, right.
Alston Cobourn (01:05:55)
But that's what you're helping with. I gotcha. I.
(01:05:56)
Right, right.
Forrest Foster (01:05:56)
Gotcha. And so and then then next year?
Forrest Foster (01:06:00)
I got a full time job at North Carolina A&T State University where I work now.
(01:06:04)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:06:09)
After that year, we got fired, the head coach got fired. The AD and the head coach didn't.
Forrest Foster (01:06:14)
Get along.
Forrest Foster (01:06:16)
And so.
Forrest Foster (01:06:18)
When they fire head coach, they fired everybody. And so that's where.
Alston Cobourn (01:06:21)
Right.
Alston Cobourn (01:06:22)
Which is just shame really, and not.
Forrest Foster (01:06:23)
I that's.
Forrest Foster (01:06:24)
But that's what I had to learn. I mean, I knew it, but when?
Forrest Foster (01:06:27)
You have to go through something.
Alston Cobourn (01:06:28)
And it was football. You were football.
Forrest Foster (01:06:30)
Yeah. And so.
Forrest Foster (01:06:34)
You know, sometimes you just have to go through it. You just, you know, people can.
Forrest Foster (01:06:36)
Tell you, but you have to go through it. And so I went through it and we got fired on Thanksgiving Eve.
Alston Cobourn (01:06:45)
That is terrible timing.
Forrest Foster (01:06:47)
Terrible. So I had an apartment in Greensboro and.
Alston Cobourn (01:06:49)
1/2.
Alston Cobourn (01:06:51)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:06:54)
I had just met my wife.
Forrest Foster (01:06:57)
So we were kind of dating pretty.
Forrest Foster (01:06:58)
Much and.
Forrest Foster (01:07:01)
Yeah, it's just, you know, hey.
Forrest Foster (01:07:02)
You know, that does seem.
Alston Cobourn (01:07:04)
Unusually cruel to file people on.
Forrest Foster (01:07:06)
Well, that's that's kind of like, you know, coincidentally, that's like the time, but.
Alston Cobourn (01:07:11)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah, that is. Yeah. But.
Forrest Foster (01:07:14)
I mean, you know.
Forrest Foster (01:07:17)
So I quickly decided coaches not for me.
Forrest Foster (01:07:22)
I can't have you know, someone in control of my mortgage that easily it it just doesn't work. Well, you know, just there's no comfortable, there's no stability in there. There's no mental stability.
Forrest Foster (01:07:31)
In that.
Forrest Foster (01:07:33)
Let alone physical, you know.
Forrest Foster (01:07:36)
You know, picking up and leaving, it's just it's just.
Forrest Foster (01:07:38)
How? A lot.
Alston Cobourn (01:07:39)
Of people do it.
Forrest Foster (01:07:41)
But they do, and they make it work. And you know I don't knock it for anyone else. But for me, I I can't do that anymore.
Forrest Foster (01:07:50)
But there were. I had a couple opportunities. There was a a position in Montana I could have.
Forrest Foster (01:07:57)
Taken or I could have gone to Penn State for a GA position.
Forrest Foster (01:08:02)
So I flew up to Penn State. I knew I wasn't going to Montana. I didn't want. I didn't want to coach.
Forrest Foster (01:08:07)
That bad?
Forrest Foster (01:08:09)
And who knows, Montana might have been great.
Forrest Foster (01:08:10)
You know.
Forrest Foster (01:08:11)
But my biases and my journalization is that at the time they wouldn't allow me to go to Montana just to see. So I went to Penn State just because, you know.
Forrest Foster (01:08:23)
The name and the head coaches name Joe Paul and.
Forrest Foster (01:08:27)
But I went up there and I didn't. I didn't think I would get the GA position. I was just thankful for the opportunity. So I went up there and we did the whole.
Forrest Foster (01:08:37)
I didn't get it. That was fine.
Forrest Foster (01:08:39)
But hindsight, I'm kind of glad I didn't get it because they had an issue up there. I don't know if you remember.
Forrest Foster (01:08:47)
In 2002, there was a Sandusky scandal, and if I would have gotten that GA position, I would have been right in the middle of that.
Alston Cobourn (01:08:51)
Yes, I do remember that.
Forrest Foster (01:09:00)
Because the offensive GA was in the middle of that and.
Forrest Foster (01:09:06)
So it's just, you know, you just be careful what you ask for and what you wish for, what you want, and and you know, you never really know what's.
Forrest Foster (01:09:12)
Going to happen to you, but.
Forrest Foster (01:09:15)
You know, just proceed with caution and.
Forrest Foster (01:09:19)
You know, move accordingly so.
Forrest Foster (01:09:21)
So after all that, I was like, OK.
Forrest Foster (01:09:24)
I should just fall back on my degree, right? It might as well just.
Forrest Foster (01:09:27)
Get it started and.
Forrest Foster (01:09:29)
And I did. And so I was unemployed, though I was unemployed for about 8 months, so I had to go to back then. You had to go to the employment office, get the sheet, and fill it out. You had to, you know, tell them you're going to certain places to apply and run it on the sheet and bring it. And I hated that. I just. I felt low.
Alston Cobourn (01:09:44)
Yeah, yeah.
Forrest Foster (01:09:48)
No, because I haven't had to do.
Forrest Foster (01:09:49)
That before and.
Forrest Foster (01:09:51)
But again, it was a great experience because now I can share that and I can say I went through that, but.
Forrest Foster (01:09:57)
I didn't. It felt bad, you know, you know.
Forrest Foster (01:10:03)
And it wasn't really nothing I did, but it's still, I was still in that position. So I felt it was. It was very, you know, dire, you know, so.
Forrest Foster (01:10:16)
So there was a position, AT&T, North Carolina, and in the library.
Forrest Foster (01:10:20)
Even though I had a master's degree, they didn't have anything available, but they had.
Forrest Foster (01:10:23)
A third shift certain position.
Alston Cobourn (01:10:26)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:10:27)
11:00 PM to 8:00 AM.
Forrest Foster (01:10:29)
And I put that thing on for the longest because I didn't think I. I thought I was too good.
Forrest Foster (01:10:34)
To work third shift.
Forrest Foster (01:10:36)
And so it was 2 weeks left to apply.
Forrest Foster (01:10:40)
And then there was one week and there was 3 days and it was one day it was 22 hours, then it was one hour. And so I just.
Forrest Foster (01:10:48)
I sent it in. I waited as long as I could and I sent.
Forrest Foster (01:10:52)
It in.
Forrest Foster (01:10:54)
I got the job.
Forrest Foster (01:10:56)
And the rest has been history.
Forrest Foster (01:11:01)
The head of the SERC left and six months after I got hired. Well, no, I take that back about a year after I got hired.
Forrest Foster (01:11:09)
So I I felt the I understand the 3rd shift totally up and down.
Forrest Foster (01:11:16)
I know what goes on on 3rd shift. You know, just the whole dynamic of third shift you know.
Forrest Foster (01:11:23)
In in regards to you know.
Forrest Foster (01:11:27)
You know when.
Forrest Foster (01:11:28)
People don't think you have certain experiences or certain.
Forrest Foster (01:11:34)
Insight on certain things you know, you could tell them you know, because I've heard it all, you know.
Forrest Foster (01:11:40)
You don't understand. You know what goes on. And no, I do. Trust me, I do so. But then from there, I was head of Sir or head of access.
Forrest Foster (01:11:49)
Services for about a year and a half, maybe two years and.
Alston Cobourn (01:11:50)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:11:56)
I taught it. You can see I taught at UNCG for maybe a year, year and a half.
Forrest Foster (01:12:02)
Great experience in the library school and then after that I worked at Winston Salem state.
Alston Cobourn (01:12:03)
In their library, yeah.
Forrest Foster (01:12:09)
For probably.
Forrest Foster (01:12:11)
12 to 14 years. That's when time was flying. I had the opportunity to go to Texas or University of North Texas.
Forrest Foster (01:12:19)
I decided not to go.
Forrest Foster (01:12:23)
That's that. That's that. You know, I'm getting, I say, complacent, but I felt the urge to not only move because that's my nature, but I also wanted to progress too. And I didn't want to stay.
Forrest Foster (01:12:34)
In one place too.
Forrest Foster (01:12:37)
So one of the one I had to offer, but I didn't take it because of some things.
Forrest Foster (01:12:41)
And so we stayed here. And then the two years later, there was another offer that I really wanted out there, but I didn't get it. They didn't offer it to me.
Forrest Foster (01:12:50)
Which was fine because my wife was like, I'm not going anywhere so.
Forrest Foster (01:12:57)
I became the director at Fayetteville State University, got the opportunity to do that.
Forrest Foster (01:13:02)
Most recently, and did that for.
Forrest Foster (01:13:07)
Two years or a year and a half.
Forrest Foster (01:13:08)
Two years it seems so.
Forrest Foster (01:13:11)
A blur now, but.
Forrest Foster (01:13:14)
Everywhere, you know, I've always been here in Greensboro. Never, never move. So making that trip, you know, hour 45 minutes back before. But you know, you do things to.
Alston Cobourn (01:13:23)
Yes, a lot.
Forrest Foster (01:13:29)
You know, move things forward and progress.
Forrest Foster (01:13:33)
And so I had an opportunity to come back and be the associate director.
Forrest Foster (01:13:37)
AT&T, which made sense. Yeah, it was a good fit.
Forrest Foster (01:13:43)
Some of the original people are still.
Forrest Foster (01:13:45)
You know, kind of like.
Forrest Foster (01:13:46)
Here you know, some original people still here. We have some lot of great.
Forrest Foster (01:13:50)
As I call them newbies that are that are awesome and so.
Forrest Foster (01:13:58)
Here I am. You know, I'm here talking with you about libraries and football and.
Alston Cobourn (01:14:03)
So when did you when did you go back to AMT?
Forrest Foster (01:14:07)
I went in 20.
Forrest Foster (01:14:08)
20 at the right at the the height of COVID. I mean they I had a virtual onboarding session. It was awesome. It was, it was. It was the best thing ever.
Forrest Foster (01:14:19)
It was it was very smooth that, you know, it was it was great.
Alston Cobourn (01:14:23)
That must have been a very challenging time to start. Start that new job, but but you know, being sort of in charge of a lot of things, right, and it's an awkward time. You know, there's a lot.
Forrest Foster (01:14:23)
And then right?
Forrest Foster (01:14:28)
Well at.
Alston Cobourn (01:14:34)
People are looking for direction on this uncharted territory and everything kind of.
Forrest Foster (01:14:38)
On paper gifts.
Forrest Foster (01:14:41)
Mentally, I was I was just happy to be back and I didn't have to worry about the drive.
Forrest Foster (01:14:49)
I could figure that out, you know, and we did. And plus, too, it was kind of like, you know, we were all remote at the time. So when we we're starting to transition. So things were kind of we were, everybody was trying to figure this the new.
Forrest Foster (01:15:03)
New, right?
Forrest Foster (01:15:04)
So the old wasn't really.
Forrest Foster (01:15:08)
What we've done in the past or what they had done in the past wasn't really.
Forrest Foster (01:15:12)
The strategy moving forward, it was OK everybody goes home, the admin and the supervisors or whatever department leadership teams kind of kind of figure this out as we go. So it kind of gave me some space to like, OK, I didn't have to jump in trying to write all these new procedures for COVID and who's going to do what and it was just OK, we'll see what the state.
Forrest Foster (01:15:33)
To see what the the university admin is going to spill out on us and but until then, it's just.
Forrest Foster (01:15:42)
Just stay at home. I guess you know that that's kind of a blur too, you know. At least when it first started and after that, I mean, you know, the hybrid is very clear, but.
Forrest Foster (01:15:53)
Everybody going home was.
Forrest Foster (01:15:55)
It was just, you know, we always wondered what condition 30 is. We know we know what condition one is. Condition two. It was kind of vague. It was kind of blurry.
Forrest Foster (01:16:03)
Too, but what?
Forrest Foster (01:16:04)
Is a condition three right? When we were ever going to use a condition three and we ended up finally finding out what a condition three is and unfortunately.
Forrest Foster (01:16:16)
That's what it looked like, but now we all know what a condition three is, but.
Forrest Foster (01:16:22)
Yeah. So, I mean, the journey, you know, it was a great journey. Still going of course, but.
Forrest Foster (01:16:30)
Yeah, I mean, you know, as far as what ECU has provided, I'm very thankful.
Forrest Foster (01:16:36)
For the opportunities.
Forrest Foster (01:16:38)
In in many ways.
Forrest Foster (01:16:40)
Whether it's just the, the, the Collegian experience or the athletic experience, and of course we, you know, we can't touch on everything, but it's, you know, some of the stuff I share. I mean it's you definitely hope the place in my heart I met.
Forrest Foster (01:16:53)
My I didn't. I met her here.
Alston Cobourn (01:16:56)
How can I ask you how you met your wife?
Forrest Foster (01:16:58)
I met her here in 2001, so it was we were in grad school now we we weren't in the same circles in undergrad.
Alston Cobourn (01:17:06)
So she went to school here too.
Forrest Foster (01:17:08)
Every year graduated came in the same year, graduated the same year.
Forrest Foster (01:17:11)
But we weren't in the same Brandy, foster.
Forrest Foster (01:17:15)
At the time, Brandy Holmes.
Alston Cobourn (01:17:21)
So then you met in 2001.
Forrest Foster (01:17:22)
Right. She was in grad school, and we saw each other on campus. Now we know we had seen each other, but just, just different circles, you know? And I know you, you know, and so right in front of the old, I guess student center well.
Forrest Foster (01:17:42)
What's behind rawls?
Forrest Foster (01:17:45)
Isn't it?
Forrest Foster (01:17:46)
It used to be like a little.
Alston Cobourn (01:17:47)
I'm I'm not as good a moviola raphy as I should be.
Forrest Foster (01:17:50)
It used to be.
Forrest Foster (01:17:51)
Like a little eatery? Yeah, they call it the.
Alston Cobourn (01:17:54)
You know what you mean?
Forrest Foster (01:17:55)
Yard. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're talking.
Forrest Foster (01:17:58)
But the yard?
Alston Cobourn (01:17:58)
Yeah, I know what you're talking.
Forrest Foster (01:17:59)
About so I don't even think it's still there, but.
Alston Cobourn (01:18:01)
OK.
Alston Cobourn (01:18:03)
I have heard other people.
Forrest Foster (01:18:04)
Talk about this. OK. We kind of met.
Forrest Foster (01:18:07)
We met, OK? We met in the circle where the Richard Richard Bills. You know, that circle. That's kind of where we met.
Forrest Foster (01:18:13)
So where we officially spoke to each other, I'll say that.
Forrest Foster (01:18:18)
And we exchanged numbers and.
Forrest Foster (01:18:22)
I didn't know she was from high point, so when I.
Forrest Foster (01:18:24)
Moved to coach.
Alston Cobourn (01:18:25)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:18:27)
We kept in touch and then she ended up going back to high point.
Forrest Foster (01:18:31)
And so that's when we really started the.
Forrest Foster (01:18:35)
The relationship courtship so.
Alston Cobourn (01:18:39)
What was her masters in?
Forrest Foster (01:18:41)
Was she never?
Alston Cobourn (01:18:42)
Finished studying psychology, OK.
Forrest Foster (01:18:45)
And she did not end up in anything in.
Alston Cobourn (01:18:47)
Psychology. What did she end up doing?
Forrest Foster (01:18:50)
Well, she ended up going into.
Forrest Foster (01:18:57)
Manager level, but have you heard of paychecks? She worked for? They do payroll. It's a payroll company. She worked there for about 15 years as a County Executive there. And now she's at Market America and do a lot of online products. Same position, different company. So.
Forrest Foster (01:19:17)
Which is also in Greensboro, N Greensboro. But.
(01:19:20)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:19:23)
But she still uses the psychology aspect, but not professionally. So but but.
Forrest Foster (01:19:30)
Yeah. We have three kids.
Forrest Foster (01:19:34)
A 15 year old, a 12 year old and 11 year old, 11 year old. Excuse me, the 15 year old is 10th grade. He's southwest Guilford High school. Greensburg. Yeah. Southwest Guilford High School is in the 10th grade.
(01:19:47)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:19:48)
He plays baseball. The girl is in the middle. She's in the 7th grade at Southwest middle.
Alston Cobourn (01:19:55)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:19:56)
She's she's. She's artsy, she's the artsy 1.
Forrest Foster (01:20:02)
And then the youngest is in the 6th grade at the middle school as well, and he's all over the place. So.
Alston Cobourn (01:20:08)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:20:10)
And yeah, I mean.
Forrest Foster (01:20:13)
That's where we are. We're grinding where it's always ripping and running and.
Forrest Foster (01:20:18)
But I guess we wouldn't, we wouldn't have it any other way, you know so.
Forrest Foster (01:20:25)
Yeah, it's been a good journey.
Alston Cobourn (01:20:26)
Yeah, that's a busy age for children.
Forrest Foster (01:20:28)
Yeah, yeah.
Forrest Foster (01:20:30)
Therefore look.
Alston Cobourn (01:20:31)
Got all their own things too.
Forrest Foster (01:20:33)
Oh, so they think you know, so you know. So yeah, we we're all in the friends and trying to figure this thing out. The the phone you know is is is the curveball and what's what's what's on the phone and.
Forrest Foster (01:20:48)
Just having those conversations and you know.
Forrest Foster (01:20:53)
I hate to say it, but you know, it's just. It's just it's it's, it's the cycle. It's cyclical. You know your parents, you hear your parents just coming from your mouth. Now you know, having those same conversations in school and be careful and.
Forrest Foster (01:21:07)
Yeah. It's just it's it's just the weirdest thing. But, you know, you go back to what you know or what you've heard, right? And then you try to add your touch to it, right. So, you know, depending on the child because.
(01:21:08)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:21:19)
You know she's real sensitive, right? You can't.
Forrest Foster (01:21:24)
I can't be vocal.
Forrest Foster (01:21:26)
To her like I am my oldest.
Forrest Foster (01:21:29)
He's not to say the other two are great, but his his demeanor, his disposition is great, like he's never too high, never too low, and maybe again in the future in certain areas that might not be great, but as far as me telling him what to do, that's great. I like that, right? He's not too high. Not too. He takes it.
Alston Cobourn (01:21:39)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:21:44)
And he the youngest one. He's he's got the questions. Well, why? Well, why? Why? Why you didn't do it. So why? You know, that's him and the girl. You know, the approach you just you know you can't be that focal whether you have to take your time. You have to be methodical. You have to because that's just that's just everybody's different. Everybody's a different disposition.
Forrest Foster (01:22:07)
So yeah, you know the game of life, you know, you work through it and you figure it out and you.
Forrest Foster (01:22:12)
You keep it going, you know.
Alston Cobourn (01:22:14)
Are there other ways you've been involved with ECU since you, you know, graduated in the list? Just curious, have you been?
Forrest Foster (01:22:26)
Yeah, I I wish I could be more, but I mean, I was involved with the.
Forrest Foster (01:22:34)
Patrick Johnson and Henry Hinton and another athlete and one of my friends. We did a we did. We had a well, they have the radio show, the 94.3 Pirate Radio and I think it was around 2015, 2016, 2017.
Alston Cobourn (01:22:45)
Right.
(01:22:48)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:22:52)
I participated in some of the the the radio show interviewing for the football games pregame show. I guess is what you can follow. So that was cool, you know, doing it with my friend Kevin Monroe, that was that was good.
Alston Cobourn (01:22:59)
Ohh rusher.
Forrest Foster (01:23:05)
I think he's still a part of that, if I'm not mistaken, actually he's. I think he kind of elevated. He was working with Jeff Charles in the booth.
Alston Cobourn (01:23:14)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:23:16)
But of course, we know Jeff to my eyes and I'm not sure who I'm not.
Alston Cobourn (01:23:19)
It passed away, yeah.
Forrest Foster (01:23:21)
They have a situation with that too, right?
Alston Cobourn (01:23:24)
Yeah, that that hasn't, I think been all settled yet. There is, there is some I I forgot his name, but they do have someone at this season who I think does announcing for the Panthers, actually. And they're he's going to do some contract work for but I think long term they still have to figure out a longer plan.
Forrest Foster (01:23:26)
OK.
Forrest Foster (01:23:43)
And my friend is working with whoever.
Forrest Foster (01:23:44)
That new guy would be.
Forrest Foster (01:23:47)
But yeah, the 94 three was cool, but it's just a drive.
Forrest Foster (01:23:52)
You can't do that every Saturday, kids.
Forrest Foster (01:23:54)
For you and then too, I don't know if you know this, but.
Forrest Foster (01:24:00)
Most recently, I think you have.
Forrest Foster (01:24:03)
To have if you want to stay in a hotel in most hotels, or maybe a particular hotels, you have to have a two night minimum.
Forrest Foster (01:24:10)
So either you have to stay Friday or Saturday or Saturday or Sunday. So I was like, OK, this is OK, big business here, right? So this is, you know, big business, so.
Alston Cobourn (01:24:11)
I have not had that happen yet to me.
Alston Cobourn (01:24:21)
You experienced that when you came to green in Greenville in particular. Yeah. OK. No, I haven't tried. Yeah, I wouldn't know.
Forrest Foster (01:24:23)
Well, I was trying to get a.
Forrest Foster (01:24:25)
I was trying to get.
Forrest Foster (01:24:25)
A right, right. Right, right. So.
Forrest Foster (01:24:28)
Right. And so when I tried to do that, I wanted to go back and see some people in Clemson. It was the same thing.
Forrest Foster (01:24:34)
Really. So OK, this is this is the new wrinkle. This is how they.
Forrest Foster (01:24:38)
Right. So and again, maybe it's the certain hotels, but.
Forrest Foster (01:24:44)
I just look. I just wanna stay at hotel.
Alston Cobourn (01:24:45)
I wondered, it's a weekend thing. Yeah, that's interesting. I didn't.
Forrest Foster (01:24:47)
Know that and it's only during football season of.
Forrest Foster (01:24:49)
Course. Ohh so to you know what I'm saying to.
Alston Cobourn (01:24:53)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:24:55)
Yeah, just found that interesting. So.
Alston Cobourn (01:24:59)
Are there?
Alston Cobourn (01:25:01)
Well, so you have talked some about you. Obviously you talked some about your achievements are there, are there other achievements you're particularly proud of you haven't?
Alston Cobourn (01:25:11)
Talked about that you want to mention.
Forrest Foster (01:25:13)
Personal or professional?
Alston Cobourn (01:25:15)
Hey there.
Forrest Foster (01:25:22)
Well, I mean, I don't know, I mean.
Forrest Foster (01:25:27)
To save time I guess I mean not to save time, but just off the head. I guess. I mean you know the.
Forrest Foster (01:25:33)
You know, having a family is, is, and I, you know, I don't know if we're going in this direction, but having a family is.
Forrest Foster (01:25:38)
Definitely an achievement for me is.
Forrest Foster (01:25:41)
You know, so my father's still alive and you know he's he's.
Forrest Foster (01:25:47)
You know my brother and I. And so he my brother has his family, so he gets to see all of that, you know? So that's that's.
Forrest Foster (01:25:54)
That's good for him and it's.
Alston Cobourn (01:25:55)
Where does he live in Alabama still.
Forrest Foster (01:25:57)
So he lives in high point.
Alston Cobourn (01:25:59)
Oh, your father moved to high point. OK. And where's your brother?
Forrest Foster (01:26:00)
Yeah, he lives at high point now, so.
Forrest Foster (01:26:03)
He's a child.
Alston Cobourn (01:26:04)
Oh, that's right.
Alston Cobourn (01:26:05)
That's right. Yeah. OK.
Forrest Foster (01:26:07)
You know that worked out great.
Forrest Foster (01:26:11)
But I mean as far as.
Forrest Foster (01:26:15)
I mean I, you know, as far as being here, I you know.
Forrest Foster (01:26:18)
Again, I think the the emphasis on education helped me a lot and you know it's good to have people in your.
Forrest Foster (01:26:23)
Corner, too, inspire you to do whatever you want to do. And as you know, college isn't for everybody. So, but you know, depending on, you know your interest and you know your influences are you know.
Forrest Foster (01:26:39)
Whatever you decide to do, just try to do as.
Forrest Foster (01:26:40)
Best as you.
Forrest Foster (01:26:41)
Can, but I mean, you know, receiving some of those.
Forrest Foster (01:26:46)
And I think you'll you'll. You'll see him in the box that I that I brought, you know, some of the academic achievements and some of the the character awards.
Forrest Foster (01:26:55)
Are some of the achievements that I had here as far as librarianship?
Forrest Foster (01:27:02)
I know actually do. Do you all have? I know you have the chance, but I don't know how often you all attend in CL.
Alston Cobourn (01:27:10)
Yeah, well, there are, because I think I was told, so I haven't been to UCLA before, but I am going this year because I am now on the Special Collections Roundtable room. Jennifer recruited me to join that, but there are usually because I guess I always went to the Society of North Carolina ARC.
Alston Cobourn (01:27:27)
Of this was typically the group.
Alston Cobourn (01:27:29)
And stuff with and stuff and so.
Alston Cobourn (01:27:30)
But but there are always a group of people from here that go every year that I've been here. It's actually. There are usually a fair amount of people that. Yeah. And so I know that, yeah, this year, I know there's a whole group that are planning to come to. But yeah, I will be going this year for the first time. And Jennifer told me that it's usually in Winston. That's.
Forrest Foster (01:27:39)
No, I see them. I just didn't.
Forrest Foster (01:27:40)
Know having elections.
Alston Cobourn (01:27:50)
Kind of a become sort of a regular.
Forrest Foster (01:27:51)
It is.
Forrest Foster (01:27:53)
It's it's, it's it's. It's as I was told by the Dean of UNCG.
Alston Cobourn (01:27:53)
Thing I guess I'm I'm not.
Forrest Foster (01:28:03)
Ohh man.
Forrest Foster (01:28:07)
Blank. But anyway, you know geographically it's the best place to, you know, support.
Alston Cobourn (01:28:14)
Yes, that is the hard part of our state so wide. I mean that was a challenge.
(01:28:15)
You're getting friends.
Forrest Foster (01:28:19)
It was in Greenville one time. Long time.
Forrest Foster (01:28:21)
Ago OK.
Forrest Foster (01:28:22)
Is that the? It might have been 09 or something maybe.
Forrest Foster (01:28:25)
But they.
Forrest Foster (01:28:26)
Skip every other year, but I don't think the numbers the numbers were that well cramped in Mike trumped it. I don't think the numbers are the numbers were that well and.
Alston Cobourn (01:28:28)
Right, right. It's every other area.
Alston Cobourn (01:28:33)
Oh great.
Forrest Foster (01:28:35)
I know he he is.
Alston Cobourn (01:28:36)
It's for it's pretty far.
Alston Cobourn (01:28:37)
East for a lot of people, yeah.
Forrest Foster (01:28:39)
Sometimes they do it in Hickory. They might have tried it in Greensboro once, just I don't think the layout is great. But yeah, Winston seems to.
Forrest Foster (01:28:48)
Work well.
Forrest Foster (01:28:50)
For a lot of reasons geographically and well that, that kind of.
Alston Cobourn (01:28:51)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:28:55)
Constitutes the numbers you know that helps with numbers and so.
Forrest Foster (01:28:59)
But yes, but.
Forrest Foster (01:29:01)
I will be receiving award then this coming.
Forrest Foster (01:29:05)
The Remco roundtable.
Forrest Foster (01:29:08)
And so you know, just it's as I was described, it's.
Forrest Foster (01:29:14)
Just impact longevity.
Forrest Foster (01:29:20)
Impact award in regards to.
Forrest Foster (01:29:23)
The things that that librarians do, whether it's instruction or administration or you know whatever your tenants are, you know the impact that you made on your career so.
Alston Cobourn (01:29:35)
Well, congratulations.
Forrest Foster (01:29:36)
Well, thank you. So yeah, that, that's that's cool.
Forrest Foster (01:29:41)
I'm excited about that.
Forrest Foster (01:29:43)
And yeah, I mean.
Forrest Foster (01:29:47)
I mean, there might be some other things, but I'm trying to touch, you know, personal, professional and.
Alston Cobourn (01:29:54)
Was there anything else that you want to share about anything in your life before we wrap up?
Forrest Foster (01:30:03)
Well, I don't know. I I just.
Alston Cobourn (01:30:05)
I mean, sometimes people will tell us about different civic organizations or things they've been involved in too. If they, that's another aspect of their life or church life or whatever people.
Forrest Foster (01:30:13)
Right.
Alston Cobourn (01:30:17)
People feel like Sharon.
(01:30:19)
Right.
Forrest Foster (01:30:23)
That's a good one.
Forrest Foster (01:30:25)
Don't even think about that when we're thinking about it. Well, I mean, I'll I'll maybe leave with some, I don't know, advice, I guess I don't know. And I probably shared this throughout.
Forrest Foster (01:30:38)
It's more so I guess for libraries I can end it all libraries I guess, but I guess you know in.
Forrest Foster (01:30:43)
This era.
Forrest Foster (01:30:46)
As they seem to change every other two years.
Forrest Foster (01:30:49)
You know it's not.
Forrest Foster (01:30:49)
Like, you know, still people. I don't know if it's right, but I would tell, you know, maybe from the 50s to 1996 libraries, we probably were kind of very stagnant at doing the same thing.
Forrest Foster (01:31:02)
The the way the technology came and changed a lot in 961996 that whole.
Forrest Foster (01:31:09)
Tech Revolution games. Things shifted and they started shifting more.
Forrest Foster (01:31:15)
I guess quickly.
Forrest Foster (01:31:17)
And then you know the.
Forrest Foster (01:31:21)
As technology enhances and advances, it just changes ever quicker and quicker so.
Forrest Foster (01:31:27)
You know, libraries, you know, we're always fighting to, you know, be heard, you know. And I don't know, you all might be a little. I know you're under the umbrella of library sometimes, sometimes you're not. You know, sometimes you can sit sit alone. I guess if you're in a if you're in a.
Alston Cobourn (01:31:40)
Archive you mean?
Forrest Foster (01:31:42)
Museum but if you?
Alston Cobourn (01:31:43)
Yeah, there are some sort.
Alston Cobourn (01:31:44)
Of corporate archives or or like, yeah other like historical site or something maybe. But yeah, a lot of.
Alston Cobourn (01:31:51)
A lot of archives do fit, you know, just under. Say, I mean, even a lot of public libraries have, you know, maybe a smaller history type room that has their sort of local archival kind of stuff.
Alston Cobourn (01:32:03)
So yes, but anyway. So yes, continue.
Forrest Foster (01:32:05)
No, I would. I would just say that now is the time to take advantage of everything in regards to, I mean now is the time for libraries like.
Forrest Foster (01:32:15)
From creative thinking, you know creatively.
Forrest Foster (01:32:21)
You can really do anything you want to do in libraries like you know, the 2015 years ago. You know the the creativity you, we were kind of in one Ave. you know it was.
Forrest Foster (01:32:34)
Centered, centered around just reading and and and books, but with the expansion again of technology and the advancement of technology which allows us to do.
Forrest Foster (01:32:46)
You know, high scale creativity and digitizing and explaining and telling our story and impact, whether it's through instruction, where you could, you know use technology and and connect and collaborate with faculty, whether face to face or virtual.
Forrest Foster (01:33:02)
Whether it's administrating, really getting creative and fundraising and such as a concept like the whole football and museum thing, you know what I mean? Like.
Forrest Foster (01:33:13)
You would have thought that 20 years ago you would have thought of it, but you know it just.
Forrest Foster (01:33:17)
Wouldn't mesh now because everything is a go, not just in libraries, but in the culture. And sometimes it's good and sometimes that's bad, because sometimes you want boundaries in life, but then sometimes the boundaries can.
Forrest Foster (01:33:33)
Hinder you in certain phases in certain areas, but it seems it's the way the culture is going, which sometimes can be getting bad. There are no boundaries so but even within.
Forrest Foster (01:33:43)
Librarianship take use leverage that for its advantage.
Forrest Foster (01:33:48)
Because I mean, really, they're the gloves are off. There are no boundaries. So be creative as you want.
Forrest Foster (01:33:55)
Be, you know, be strategic as you want.
Forrest Foster (01:34:00)
And just and just go all out in the sense of there's nothing you can really can't do, you know, I know the dollars and cents have to line up.
Forrest Foster (01:34:09)
On certain things.
Forrest Foster (01:34:11)
But for the most part, I mean, you know, you could be creative as you want to be. There's nothing you really can't talk about in libraries. You could talk about the most taboo topic if it's in a creative.
Forrest Foster (01:34:22)
Right. For the most part, right. You can talk about the most mundane thing because it's all information. So understand that and just recognize that and leverage it for whatever you're trying to do.
Forrest Foster (01:34:35)
And that that's that's what I would say. Of course you have to attach it to the strategic plan, but for the most or make it for somebody to buy into it. But you know the way you know the way strategic plans you can you know the way they are so vague.
Forrest Foster (01:34:51)
Not not in a bad sense, but you know you can always tie something under something.
Forrest Foster (01:34:55)
To make it.
Forrest Foster (01:34:55)
Work so, but yeah, for libraries, I mean it's it's a go.
Forrest Foster (01:35:01)
So be creative, be imaginative and I and I again, I appreciate and I love the fact that.
Forrest Foster (01:35:10)
What y'all are doing with this whole football concept?
Forrest Foster (01:35:15)
It just, it just makes sense. You know what I mean? And I'm glad that I don't know how this will end up, but I I heard it. I heard about it. I'm an alumni. I'm alumni, see. And I just wanted to be a part of it. Any way I could. So thank you for letting me be.
Forrest Foster (01:35:31)
A part of it, because.
Forrest Foster (01:35:35)
It has value to me and I think you and whoever else is involved in it.
Forrest Foster (01:35:41)
So I appreciate it.
Alston Cobourn (01:35:43)
Well, thank you for coming and thank you for.
Alston Cobourn (01:35:46)
Talking with us today.
Alston Cobourn (01:35:51)
No, no, it's good.