Dad, Tell Me About the Time…(24)

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Anything special or unique you remember about work or earning a loving that you want to share?

I guess the only thing that really comes to mind is that a life of doing work that you hate would be miserable. Of course we all need to provide for our families, so you do what you have to do to put food on the table and a roof over your heads, but all the while you should be working towards something that you enjoy.

Some of my summer jobs that put me through university were miserable but they were helping me work to something that I loved.

 LEARNING & STRETCHING

Was education valued in your home? If so, in what ways were you encourage to succeed?

My dad set the best example for me. He had dropped out of school to join the army, but he went back to school and got his high school diploma while I was a teenager. It was obvious that he valued an education and I could see that he was always trying to learn better ways of doing things.

Having said that, by the time I went to university, not one of my siblings had graduated from university. Greg had attended school but dropped out. Fara did attend a two year school and graduated as a nurses aid. Dixie had attended school and married another student, she then left school and followed him when he graduated and got a job. I don’t remember Jackie going to school and Lester did one year at the U of A with me, but did poorly and fell in love with one of his summer jobs and never went back. He did get an accounting degree years later.

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a scientist and University was necessary to become and engineer, so a degree was always in my plans.

I don’t remember my parents ever encouraging me to go to school but they always supported every decision I made. The only time they interfered was after my mission. I fully intended to go back to BYU. I had a year at the Y before my mission and I intended to get my degree there. I returned from my mission in late August and I was so focused on my mission that I hadn’t even thought of applying at the Y. My mom really wanted me to stay in Canada and closer to home so she applied for me to go to the U of A. When I got home I was already accepted at the U of A. My patriarchal blessing encourages me to council with my parents when it comes to my education so I had no problem complying with my moms wishes. It was the best decision I ever made.

That decision helped me meet my wife and it directed me to a Materials Science degree, a degree that was not offered at the Y.

Which schools did you attend?

1964 - 1967 Westside Elementary School

1967 – 1968 Hill Crest Elementary School

1968 – 1970 E J Wood Elementary School

1970 – 1973 Park View Junior High School

1973 – 1976 Cardston High School

1976 – 1977 Brigham Young University

1979 – 1983 University of Alberta

1997 – 2001 Univerity of California, San Diego

What did you do during recess at school?

A lot of the kids would play baseball but I quickly figured out that I could neither hit or catch the ball and so the fun quickly wore off. It wasn’t until third grade that we figured out that I was blind and I got glasses. By that time I was no longer invited to play ball neither did I care to. The same goes with basket ball.

What I remember the most is playing on the teeter totters and climbing the monkey bars. I would also play on power house hill. In third grade I caught a garter snake and after recess I took it in to give it to my teacher. She did not appreciate my gift. She wasn’t nice to me before that but she was even worse afterwards.

Did you win any awards when you attended school?

I don’t remember any awards, but years later when I was looking at my high school degree, I saw that I had received “honors” in three classes. I think receving “honors” means that I received an “A”. I got honors in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Automechanics and Drafting. The science classes were all matriculation classes which would be similar to AP classes today.

Did you have a favorite teacher?

In seventh grade I had Miss Stonehoker. She was a young teacher, pretty and I didn’t know at the time, but she was related to me. I loved her and she loved me. I was definitely the teachers pet. I was sad to learn that she never did get married and suffered pretty bad health.