Turning Points
Life is a journey. It has a beginning and it has an end. All along its path are events, places
and people who are turning points. Here, I relate some of these turning points in my own
journey. Hopefully, the stories will illuminate and maybe entertain some of those who care
enough to read.
Life is a journey. It has a beginning and it has an end. All along its path are events, places
and people who are turning points. Here, I relate some of these turning points in my own
journey. Hopefully, the stories will illuminate and maybe entertain some of those who care
enough to read.
was more like high school warmed over. I lived at home and commuted every day. My hours were
a bit irregular but the rest was very similar. There were no girls at the Speed Scientific School of
the University of Louisville. There were no female faculty and no female students. While some of
the engineering guys were in fraternities, that was the exception rather than the rule. And football
at the University of Louisville? Although the team is nationally ranked nowadays, when I was there,
basketball was big but the football program was about on par with volleyball and chess.
Every night it was study for me. I found engineering to be pretty tough as do most people and the
grades were hard in coming. Under the quarter system, it seemed as if we were taking finals
continually. In fact, I figured out once just how many hours we spent taking tests in the five year
undergraduate program and it came out to 50 full days!
I suppose that everyone who has ever attended university would be able to tell stories about
wacky professors. We had a few at Speed School. Our Physics professor, Dr. Schwartz, had an
eccentric style of lecturing. He would call out people in the class and ask them questions. He
would tell them if that question was to be on the test and make predictions as to what percent of
the class would flunk the question. Our engineering math professor was Chinese, very smart and
completely impatient with anyone like me who didn’t get it right off. “Ehhh, well, yo see, in-te-grate
X to the X, dx …” Integral calculus was hard enough without having to deal with the language
issue too.
At the end of the sophomore year we began alternating every quarter between academic work and
co-oping at an industrial firm, vis a vis an internship program. This lasted for two years until we
became seniors and was a good program for gaining experience in business as well as earning
money for tuition and expenses.
All four of my quarterly co-op periods were spent with the telephone company, not immersed in
cutting edge technology, but an enjoyable learning experience for an unworldly nerd trying to
become an engineer. The co-op experience led to my employment after graduation with Southern
Bell and a career that I was to enjoy for nearly forty years.
a bit irregular but the rest was very similar. There were no girls at the Speed Scientific School of
the University of Louisville. There were no female faculty and no female students. While some of
the engineering guys were in fraternities, that was the exception rather than the rule. And football
at the University of Louisville? Although the team is nationally ranked nowadays, when I was there,
basketball was big but the football program was about on par with volleyball and chess.
Every night it was study for me. I found engineering to be pretty tough as do most people and the
grades were hard in coming. Under the quarter system, it seemed as if we were taking finals
continually. In fact, I figured out once just how many hours we spent taking tests in the five year
undergraduate program and it came out to 50 full days!
I suppose that everyone who has ever attended university would be able to tell stories about
wacky professors. We had a few at Speed School. Our Physics professor, Dr. Schwartz, had an
eccentric style of lecturing. He would call out people in the class and ask them questions. He
would tell them if that question was to be on the test and make predictions as to what percent of
the class would flunk the question. Our engineering math professor was Chinese, very smart and
completely impatient with anyone like me who didn’t get it right off. “Ehhh, well, yo see, in-te-grate
X to the X, dx …” Integral calculus was hard enough without having to deal with the language
issue too.
At the end of the sophomore year we began alternating every quarter between academic work and
co-oping at an industrial firm, vis a vis an internship program. This lasted for two years until we
became seniors and was a good program for gaining experience in business as well as earning
money for tuition and expenses.
All four of my quarterly co-op periods were spent with the telephone company, not immersed in
cutting edge technology, but an enjoyable learning experience for an unworldly nerd trying to
become an engineer. The co-op experience led to my employment after graduation with Southern
Bell and a career that I was to enjoy for nearly forty years.
___________________________________________________
| And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV) |
| Copyright © 2005 leoshoemaker.com |
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| How I found a new life by Leo Shoemaker |
| Speed School October 12, 2006 |
The stereotypical notion of college is living in a
fraternity house with other guys, lotsa beer drinking,
partying, some study, sorority girls all over the place,
the football games, and so on.
None of that was college for me. In fact, my college
fraternity house with other guys, lotsa beer drinking,
partying, some study, sorority girls all over the place,
the football games, and so on.
None of that was college for me. In fact, my college
