Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Friday, July 6, 2018

Titles of Authority

I attended a wonderful college at Rexburg, Idaho for one golden semester in the fall of 1973.
It was as long as I could manage to be away from my family.
Have I mentioned I'm a wuss?
Well, I am.
I was so homesick during those endless four months that I could have died.
I even wrote an article about being homesick that was picked up by the local paper.
I still think the tear-stains on the paper were the real sell.
Moving on . . .
During my time at college, I studied Physical Education.
Really.
I actually took classes in Soccer, Interpretive Dance, Track and Field, and Swimming.
Did you know they offer college level courses in those things?
Yeah. I didn't either.
It was a fun semester.
To round things out, I had to take some other remedial courses.
Chosen from a list.
And including such things as . . . English Language Arts.
And one or more sciences.
I chose Astronomy.
Because Zoology was filled up.
For an entire semester, I studied the stars.
We even went out in the evenings and, with the help of large telescopes, mapped the heavens.
It was . . . fun.
Our instructor for the class was a man named Brother Greg.
Oh, I should mention, here, that this was a Christian school and that we called each other brother and sister.
Even the instructors.
Soo . . . Brother Greg.
Brother Greg was a wonderful man.
Knowledgeable.
Kind.
Patient.
Let's face it, when you are shepherding a group of seventy or more students around, you'd have to have a good dose of all three.
And he answered every one of the questions I put to him.
Smiling quietly and nodding whenever my hand shot up accompanied by, “Brother Greg! Brother Greg!”
I enjoyed my Astronomy class.
I even earned a reputable grade.
And it was then that my world stood still. As well as all of the stars and planets I had been studying.
Because when Brother Greg handed out our final papers, with our grade prominently displayed, I got the biggest shock of the semester.
Brother Greg's name was Brother Nelson.
Brother Nelson?
Where on earth did I get Greg . . .? Oh. Brother Greg Nelson.
On the very first day of class, when I had been writing things down, I had started to write his name and was interrupted.
Thus, he became Brother Greg.
To this day, I wonder how I went through an entire semester without realizing that everyone . . . everyone . . . in the class was calling him something else.
I know the class was Astronomy, but was my head literally in the clouds?
Because he was such a nice man, he never corrected the weird student from Canada who insisted on calling him by his first name.
And neither did the other sixty-nine kids in the class.
Perhaps they snickered behind their hands whenever my hand went up.
Maybe (and this is a faint hope) they never noticed.
Oh, well, as least my grades were good.
Today, I couldn't tell you a single thing taught that semester.
Except for what I learned on the very last day.
And that, I simply can't forget.

8 comments:

  1. Too funny! But I'll bet that class was pretty cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So funny. We've all been there. And I'm sure Brother Greg/Nelson didn't mind at all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, at least you learned something! Ha!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Since you passed the class I'm going to guess that Brother Greg was knowledgeable, kind, patient and forgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I didn't know you went to Ricks! You would be one of those kids who didn't die from the cold. I truly love your voice, when I read your words I feel happy and loved...definitely accepted. My dear friend left for Norway today to be away for 3 years....3 years! So your sweet story today took a bit of the sad away...thankyou

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maybe they all thought that was "the Canadian way" . . . it's funny that no one corrected you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Astronomy? I am a tad jealous.
    And all too familiar with naming glitches.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm astonished that nobody at all mentioned the name to you and more astonished that you simply didn't notice everyone else using a different name.

    ReplyDelete

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