I spent the Holidays between semesters in Lakeland, FL while my family was scattered across the country visiting other relatives for their Holiday vacations. There was work to be had locally, and I was glad for the money to help pay my tuition and board. The second semester I was able to take a full course load. My course of study dictated that I take Old and New Testament surveys, English, speech, homeletics, hermaneutics, pastoral counseling, and specific Bible courses. I also took some math and science as electives.
My English professor, Dr. Bush, was a Brit born in “Indier,” as he put it. I had great fun discussing one of my favorite poets with him, Kipling. Dr. Bush was always telling dry jokes, the kind that are guaranteed to crack me up. No one else got them, however, and they all looked at me funny as I rolled on the floor laughing. I passed that course with an A!
English Literature was another fun course. The professor earned his doctorate by making a new translation of Beowulf and comparing the story with that of Arthur. It was interesting to hear the Old English language as he read the original work from a printed copy he kept for reference. The Old English word Beowulf means bear, as does the Latin word Arcturus from which we get the name of Arthur. The similarities continue from there. I won’t go into more detail because my memory is failing and I no longer have my notes from the class.
The semester was marked by many great speakers who came to our chapel services: Charles Coleson, Pat Robertson, Vaudie Lambert, and many others. Having the opportunity to meet and question the great preachers and speakers who passed through the chapel gave us a broader outlook on out chosen profession. Some of the people whom I had looked up to turned out to be quite shallow without the team of writers behind them to put wise words in their mouths, while some of the more obscure turned out to be the most wise. The praise of the public is not a good way to measure the worth of the words.
Springtime brought out several interesting events the students put on for ourselves. We had a three-lift weight lifting competition, bench, squat and dead-lift. We had a play by several students that was written by the director. And on the day that prospective students from high schools across the region came to look over the campus and decide to attend or not, one of the students preached from a boat in Lake Bonnie. The audience sat on blankets on the grassy shore to listen. A portable public address system, battery operated was used in the boat. And I met for the first time a young lady who would change my life. Not having a blanket at the shore that day my date and I borrowed space on the blanket of one of the high school seniors by the name of Bertha Schifflett.
That summer I tried to attend summer school, but I owed about eight hundred dollars, and the college would not allow debtors to attend summer semester. So I went to where my family was staying in Margate, FL. My stepfather had landed a contract with Central Land Development Corporation out of Dallas, TX to build a mini-locker complex in West Palm Beach. I worked with him on the project, until personalities once again clashed. This time he appointed me site manager for a project in Perine, FL, building the world’s first two story drive-through dairy store. If you are ever in Perine and pass the corner of US-1 and Royal Palm Blvd, look at the Farm Store on the North side of Royal Palm. All of the errors are my own.
As that summer wound down, I had saved up a couple thousand dollars to put toward my college tuition and board. My debt at the school ballooned to twelve hundred due to the promissory note the school had me to sign. But with my savings and the G.I. Bill, I was able to get back into it. I signed up for another full load.
To be continued….
Ol’ Fuzzy is not employable and was denied for disability benefits. The only thing I have is the blogs. But I don’t qualify for ads on the blogs until September. If you like the scribbles I post, please help me keep it going. You can leave me a gratuity by dropping a buck or two in Ol' Fuzzy's Tip Jar. This is a PayPal account I opened on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.
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