I started in aerospace engineering, I'm still very much of an introverted nerd,
but I love to build, I love to design, I love to make stuff
except, particularly when I went in the service, and actually a little bit--. I'd already signed up
but I'd helped several people do some stuff, and I wasn't the most brilliant student.
Actually I was kind of a jerk my first few years at State.
I had freedom. I was a farm boy. I'd never--. I didn't where the library was but I knew where the gym and the student union were. [laughter]
I knew those well, but I didn't learn where the library was until my junior year.
I'm being a bit facetious.
So the reason I was sharing all that with you is that I had helped several people get some studies
and somehow they were all just like, wow, okay?
Well then when I went into service, which I was still kind of in the aerospace mode but really thinking about going to become a teacher,
I really--. I'm almost afraid to say this on video,
video, but I kind of got a shift from better people from better bombs, okay.
hat I saw--. And I had a lot of people that--. I had some phenomenal officers that were over me and I mean they were incredible,
but they were very big on me coming back and teaching.
They knew my background
and of course that was not what I was doing in service or anything else but I was working with these people,
so basically there was this desire that we never make this mistake again
and I heard that from more than one officer, and it's like, you need to go back and teach high school.
So I already had a foot in that door before I left so when I went back I made if final,
but I stayed in physics which has always been my first love. It was the hardest one for me. [laughter]
I made worse grades in physics than any of the other sciences.
It was my favorite. So it was like, okay, well you can teach school
and then you can do your physics, so you got your science but you're still doing your teaching.
So life kind of started there
and it stayed on that track and every time I tried to get off the train it didn't let me,
until about a year and a half ago when I retired.
So that was the big change and I think the war and service and all that
really had a big influence on my decision.