Entered the Cleveland Seed on August 15, 1978, following my brother, who was then an oldcomer. I was 19 years old. I had smoked pot ocassionally, and had gotten drunk a few times, but my family was riddled with alcohol abuse so I was scared, an depressed. I was told to "come in a try the Seed for three days and if you like it, stay." From day one it was clear to me that leaving was strongly discouraged, and that everyone would regard me as a failure. A couple of months later, while still on the front row, the Cleveland Seed closed and I was relocated to Florida. After a total of six months, I was graduated, and was encouraged to "stick around as an oldcomer and help out." Since I had left all friends and family behind (my brother had moved back to Cleveland), this seemed to be the best plan. I "stuck around" for the next seven years, finally leaving in the middle of the night on October 30th, 1985. (I had always been "free to leave" I guess, but in the way that I am now "free" to walk out of my house and abandon my family and everything I know.)
I was never on staff or worked at the Seed, and although I had lived with several newcomers, I never "took one home" - in other words, had primary responsibility for one.
Walter