Fun read!

      It's not a new book, copyright 2002, and it's been awhile since S & N gave it  me. Tom Brokaw's A Long Way From Home:Growing up in the American Heartland  was particularly interesting. Why? Because he grew up in South Dakota contemporary to me. He's two years younger than I. Much of his experience is quite different because he wasn't raised on a farm. Yet, growing up in the 40s and 50s as we did, we shared many experiences. The circumstances of his father's boyhood during the depression was very interesting.

     Brokaw and I shared a similar struggle making the transition from high school to college. Neither of us had a successful beginning in higher education. My transition from high school to college was initially unsuccessful because I was both unprepared academically and immature. After floundering for a year or more I did begin to focus. 

    There was also a mis-match between me and the college. South Dakota State, now University, is a Land Grant School, which at the time of my attendance, only offered a B.S. That meant the necessity of taking more science and math than I wanted. The longest year of my life was three hours in chemistry lab. 😀 One of my disabilities involves numbers. The synapse in my brain related to number is missing...they just don't stick. This mismatch was part of my learnings as I fumbled the beginning of college.

   With a slightly better academic performance, an A in botany for example, I approached Agustana College. Harold Melemseter, originally from Sinai, was director of admissions at Augie. With his help and a bit of academic success I was admitted to Augustana.

   For one semester I studied at Augie, succeeded academically, but still had no plan for the future. That's when I enlisted in the Marines. Had I left college to work I would have been drafted. When my enlistment ended three years later re-admission to Augie was easy because of that semester's record. While in the Marines I decided to return to Augie, begin as a pre-seminary student and see what happens. The rest is history.

   Those fumble years after high school have always been a source of embarrassment. That is until I stop and think "had I sailed through college out of high school I never would have met Joanne." Were this world one of strict justice I should have suffered for my waywardness. Because this is often a world of grace that waywardness led me to Joanne, who was working at Augie, so we met. 👍

Takk for alt,

Al