College opens new pathways
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom and also get understanding." Proverbs 4:7 (My translation)
In the fall of 1955 my friend and I made our way to Ruston, La, to enroll in Louisiana Polytechnic Institute. When we arrived, we went to the administration office to find out what procedures to follow to enroll. We applied for student housing only to learn that all the dorms were full, especially Hale Hall, the freshmen dorm. However they suggested that we try the Alexander's, who lived just on the edge of the campus to see if they had an empty room. We found the Alexanders and sure enough they had an empty room at the front of their house, which made it easy for us to come and go without disturbing them. Their daughter just happened to be the head dietition at Tech, and we learned that she would often bring day-old doughnuts to her parents who gladly shared them with us. After depositing our lugggage in our room, Rudolph wanted to visit a friend who lived in one of the upper classmen's dorm. I tagged along to see what the dorms were like, and we found the dorm easily. I don't know that we found his friend, but we were met with several upperclassmen who asked us if we were freshmen. Not thinking, we responded yes, to which we were invited into their dorm room. They questioned us about our status, if we were veterans or not. When we answered in the negative, their faces lit up and they began to discuss what type of haircut to give us as freshmen. They mentioned several styles that did not appeal to me, so I chose a Mohawk, which left a strip of hair down the middle of my head. Somewhere we obtained a Fresman hat which we were required to wear outside of buildings. Then we went to register for classes.
My brother Charles had graduated from La Tech several years earlier, so I had sought his advice as to what I should choose as my major. He suggested engineering, because that was where the money was. In addition, he recommended electrical engineering, which appealed to me. I envisioned my career after graduation as repairing radios and televisions, being totally unaware that engineers designed radios and televisions and that it required a heavy dose of math. He had loaned me his slide rule, which every self-respecting engineering student always carried to class.
Registration was a challenge for me, not because I had trouble finding open classes, but because I wound up being the last to register because my last name began with "L" The first semester, students whose last name began with A-L registered first, then students whose last name began with M-Z registered next. The next semester students whose last name began with M--Z registered first, then the students with the last names beginning with A-L last, which meant I was among the last group to register. However I discovered that if you volunteered to work during registration you could register early before any of the others. Needless to say, from then on I volunteered to work during registration.
One of the more pleasant experiences was our discovery of the "Tonk," which was the "watering hole" for all students. It was a frame building, and served the students well until several years later there was a great crowd of high school students visiting the campus and during their dancing the floor gave way. Needless to say, the Tong was replaced by a much sturdier building.
Classes began, and another discovery was that I did not like math, chemistry or physics. But the Baptist Student Union held mid-day services in their small building. Most attractive to me was the singing--3 or more hymns before a brief message--mostly by fellow students. After downing lunch, we would hurry to the BSU for "Chapel." If we got there early enough, we could play dominos, or pingpong. I learned that the tables where we played dominos were not called "Card" tables because the churches in North Louisiana were opposed to the use of cards in the Center. They were referred to as "Game" tables. So one day when the BSU Director was giving his "State of the Union" message to us he said without thinking, "I just want to lay my cards on the table!" The group erupted in gales of laughter for about five minutes until we oould control ourselves. Of course, Sam never mentioned the term "Cards" again.
In addition to daily chapel services at the BSU, there was a BSU choir that gave concerts each semester. I attended the Christmas concert, and was hooked. I had never heard such beautiful music by a choir in person before and I wanted to be a part of it. Temple Baptst Church was located within walking distance from the campus and I joined others for morning and evening services. Sunday School was a real enjoyable experience as was Training Union. I also joined the Adult Choir and singing with them only increased my desire to fill my life with more musical experiences. It should come as no surprise that I changed my major to music and began to learn about vocal principles, music theory, conducting more advanced musical compositions and church music history. I had found my niche in life and was enjoying college life to the full.
On the plus side, I met and became friends with a fellow music student from Shreveport named Kenneth Lee Williams. We would often make our way to the BSU to play ping-pong. We never kept score, just enjoyed hitting the ball as we talked. Our friendship would last for many years. Ken led music at a local church and his accompanist was Nancy Jacks, whose mother was the postmistress at Tech. Not surprisingly they would later marry and have three children. We would later be reunited where we served churches in Columbus, Georgia. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
During the Spring semester I signed up to be a "checker" in the Music Department. Each voice student had a 30 minute voice lesson each week with a voice teacher, and then arranged for a certain number of hours to practice in one of the rooms set aside for that purpose. In order to assure students did indeed practice as they were required, "checkers" would go to each practice room to see if the students assigned to that room at that hour were actually there. The pay for checkers was a whopping 30 cents per hour, not a lot, but it did help with expenses.
Another not so pleasant experience during the Spring was contracting the flu. I wound up in the infirmary for a few days until I recovered. A few of my friends tried to visit me there, but were run off by the head nurse. I had moved into Hale Hall, and my room-mate was Ross Jenkins from Arkansas. He was very tall, and his shoes were a size 13. Once I tied his shoes and was able to slip my shoes inside his. We became friends with the students next door who frequently popped popcorn and invited us over to share, It was a very enjoyable semester.
After the semester had ended, I joined a BSU choir composed of students from different colleges around the state that toured various churches in the state by bus to promote the BSU ministry. We rehearsed at the BSU center in Monroe, LA. There were only three basses to begin with, but for our last concert there were only two of us. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I had every had. Bill Santo was the director, and had an excellent tenor voice. One of the songs we enjoyed singing was "Amen" with Bill singing the solo part. The last concert was held at a church in Deridder, about 40 plus miles from Many. Instead of returning to Monroe, I decided to leave the tour and hitchhike back home. I was able to get home about 11:30am, and I found the door locked because my parents were at church doing Bible School. I remembered that the screen on the porch could be removed, so I was able to open the window and enter the house. I replaced the screen and about that time I saw my parents returning home. Being a bit mischievous, I thought I would surprise my mother, who was not expecting me. My Dad went on to town and my mother came into the house and went to the kitchen. I sneaked up behind her and grabbed her around the shoulders. Thinking back on that idiotic stunt, I should have been horse-whipped. But my mother was so glad to see me we had a good laugh together.
On a rather sad note, my friend from my home community did not complete the first semester and returned home to Mt Zion, I suppose to help his parents with the farm. That meant I had no transportation, and on several occasions I had to hitchhike from Ruston to Many and then to Mt Zion. For awhile, my Dad allowed me to drive his Pontiac, which occasionally had brake trouble. Enter my father, he purchased a small Chevrolet for me that provided adequate transportation to and from school and to the churches that I served as music director. That leads to the next chapter in my life.