• I graduated 8^th grade from one-room rural school with 27 kids in all 8 grades. I went to high school in preference to staying home to work on the farm.
• My Father, from rural Tennessee, had a third grade education. My older brother dropped out of high school in 10^th grade to join the Marines—and stayed there.
• I went to Missouri University on a full football scholarship. I made the freshman team. I also made 24 credit hours of F’s and 6 hours of D’s. Transferring to a smaller college, I played on the starting team and took courses “that were easier” e.g. freehand drawing, typing, and Health (taught by the basketball coach).
• I was drafted into the Korean War, where I learned there were the haves and have-nots. I wanted to be a “have,” so with two years of additional maturity, the GI Bill, and a fresh perspective, I got a degree (2.0 GPA) in education but never intended to teach. It was a convenient utilization of courses I had taken to stay eligible for football.
• I have no master’s degree. I never took college courses beyond my bachelor’s degree. College courses were of no value to me in the first place, so I never went back.
• I considered my teacher training inadequate, until I attempted to apply the training. I found it was not inadequate; it was worthless. Continuing in teaching, I found the training was not just worthless; it was detrimental to teaching efficacy; it hindered my learning and ability to teach.

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