U.S. postage goes up one penny tomorrow, which reminds me: I still owe Marquette Undergraduate Admissions three cents.

On Tuesday, April 5, 1988, I signed my acceptance to Marquette University and wrote out a deposit check for $200. I sealed both in the reply envelope, stuck on a 22-cent stamp and dropped the letter into a Greendale, Wisconsin mailbox.

The next day, I discovered my mistake. On April 3, 1988, the U.S. Postal Service raised the cost of first-class-letter postage from 22 cents to 25 cents.

I used the wrong stamp! The postage on the most important letter in my 18-year-old life was three cents short. Would three pennies jeopardize my spot in Marquette’s Class of 1992? Nope. Marquette confirmed receipt of my postage-deficient letter that week.

Thanks, Leo Flynn and Undergraduate Admissions!