I attended PC under the GI Bill this year. All costs were paid by the US Government. My memory fails me on much of this year; after a three-year absence I didn't feel like a student. I reached home on May 1st, visited the PC campus sometime that month, and found one of my old room mates, Dave Humphreys, already in school. For some reason I remember him in the infirmary, formerly Alumni Hall. At any rate, I registered for the following term. At some point I petitioned the faculty to accept some of the hours I had earned on active duty in the Army. They approved my request, and that meant I could be a Senior and eligible to graduate the next May. I also requested a change in my major from Physics to English, and that was approved. I felt mentally tired and not up to doing the work required for an advanced degree in Physics. I expect I made a mistake in doing this, but at the time it seemed best. When I matriculated in September I was assigned to one of the suites on the first floor of Spencer, with Dave as a suite mate. During this year I was heavy on English courses that required much reading. I remember in particular two big books on American literature and world literature in courses taught by Professor John W. Harris and a book on English restoration drama taught by Associate Professor Edward F. Nolan. I particularly enjoyed Professor James S. Gray's class on the history of art. I was taking second-year Spanish under Professor R. K. Timmons when the professor teaching first-year Spanish died. For some reason they thought I could handle his job in class, so Prof. Timmons asked me to teach first-year Spanish under his supervision. I would be paid $3.50 for each class, a fairly large amount at the time. I think I did well enough with the class for the next few months. Some of the class members were veterans who had started as Freshmen with me in 1941. My younger brother, James , joined me in Spencer for the second semester. He had gone to Mars Hill the first semester and didn't get along there very well.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Senior Year, Sep 1946-May 1947
I attended PC under the GI Bill this year. All costs were paid by the US Government. My memory fails me on much of this year; after a three-year absence I didn't feel like a student. I reached home on May 1st, visited the PC campus sometime that month, and found one of my old room mates, Dave Humphreys, already in school. For some reason I remember him in the infirmary, formerly Alumni Hall. At any rate, I registered for the following term. At some point I petitioned the faculty to accept some of the hours I had earned on active duty in the Army. They approved my request, and that meant I could be a Senior and eligible to graduate the next May. I also requested a change in my major from Physics to English, and that was approved. I felt mentally tired and not up to doing the work required for an advanced degree in Physics. I expect I made a mistake in doing this, but at the time it seemed best. When I matriculated in September I was assigned to one of the suites on the first floor of Spencer, with Dave as a suite mate. During this year I was heavy on English courses that required much reading. I remember in particular two big books on American literature and world literature in courses taught by Professor John W. Harris and a book on English restoration drama taught by Associate Professor Edward F. Nolan. I particularly enjoyed Professor James S. Gray's class on the history of art. I was taking second-year Spanish under Professor R. K. Timmons when the professor teaching first-year Spanish died. For some reason they thought I could handle his job in class, so Prof. Timmons asked me to teach first-year Spanish under his supervision. I would be paid $3.50 for each class, a fairly large amount at the time. I think I did well enough with the class for the next few months. Some of the class members were veterans who had started as Freshmen with me in 1941. My younger brother, James , joined me in Spencer for the second semester. He had gone to Mars Hill the first semester and didn't get along there very well.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Junior Year, Mar-May 1943
Interrupted by W W II
My Junior year at PC was very short, as I remember. I had one quarter as a Junior at PC before I entered the U.S. Army, and while in the service I took courses taught by American college professors at two military schools which were credited to me when I returned to PC. Just after basic training at Camp Croft, SC, while attending Mississippi State College, at Starkville, MS, I took several courses in the ASTP : Mechanical drawing, English composition, chemistry. After VE Day I attended Shrivenham American University, Swindon, England, and took other courses: Advanced algebra, music appreciation, German. While there I played in the concert band directed by Thor Johnson from the University of Cincinnati. I don't remember which of these courses were creditable. At any rate, that Spring quarter was wild. The Seniors were being called to active duty as lieutenants at a rapid rate, so we underlings had to take their places in various college functions. For example, without any training or previous experience they promoted me to band director, sergeant major plus playing the clarinet. I was embarrassed and felt that I had failed. My two room mates from Anderson were both drafted and ended up wounded at Anzio.
I think this was the quarter I took my hardest physics course, radio vacuum tube theory. For the final exam Dr. Whitelaw told us long in advance that the only question would be to reproduce from memory the wiring diagram of a superheterodyne radio as shown in the textbook. We worked on this on blackboards for days before the exam. I think I ended up with a "C". An interesting course, taught by Professor Marshall Brown, was Europe since 1500.
My Junior year at PC was very short, as I remember. I had one quarter as a Junior at PC before I entered the U.S. Army, and while in the service I took courses taught by American college professors at two military schools which were credited to me when I returned to PC. Just after basic training at Camp Croft, SC, while attending Mississippi State College, at Starkville, MS, I took several courses in the ASTP : Mechanical drawing, English composition, chemistry. After VE Day I attended Shrivenham American University, Swindon, England, and took other courses: Advanced algebra, music appreciation, German. While there I played in the concert band directed by Thor Johnson from the University of Cincinnati. I don't remember which of these courses were creditable. At any rate, that Spring quarter was wild. The Seniors were being called to active duty as lieutenants at a rapid rate, so we underlings had to take their places in various college functions. For example, without any training or previous experience they promoted me to band director, sergeant major plus playing the clarinet. I was embarrassed and felt that I had failed. My two room mates from Anderson were both drafted and ended up wounded at Anzio.
I think this was the quarter I took my hardest physics course, radio vacuum tube theory. For the final exam Dr. Whitelaw told us long in advance that the only question would be to reproduce from memory the wiring diagram of a superheterodyne radio as shown in the textbook. We worked on this on blackboards for days before the exam. I think I ended up with a "C". An interesting course, taught by Professor Marshall Brown, was Europe since 1500.
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