From 19661967 to 1967/1968 to the end of 1968, I attended ELON COLLEGE or 5 semesters, leaving college in the second semester of my junior year. I left college because I was not enjoying my experiences in the classroom. My guess is that I wasn't enjoying my experiences because of what the Dean of Students said on the first day of Freshman Orientation..."...Look to your left, and look to your right, neither of those students will be here by the end of the year. Our job is to try and flunk you out, so that we are left with the best of the best continuing to graduation..."
As a result, my first two years of college was nothing more that digging deeper into the courses I had in high school and the taking of standardized tests at the end of each semester that lasted 4 hours for each course.
I was not prepared for that type of education. I left school, got married in 1969 and enlisted in the US Naval Reserves in what was called a 2X6 program. Two years of active duty with 4 years of reserve work. One of those reserve years took place before I went on active duty.
I was on active duty for 21 months not 24 months because I got a 3 month EARLY OUT to return to college. My job in the Navy was in COMMUNICATIONS which basically revolved around the collection and analysis of data to determine the movement of foreign nations not friendly to the USA, namely Russia at the time. We also monitored our own Navy to see what our enemies might learn about us. The photo to the right is what I looked like on the day I was honorably discharged from the US Navy in 1972. My daughter was also born that year.
I returned to Elon College and pursued a degree in English, graduating in 1974 with a BA in English and a GPA of 3.75. Elon College was not the same kind of school when I returned. They had changed their focus from eliminating students to helping them stay in college. Their focus was on the student but in reality, it was to generate more revenue so that the college could grow.
In 1980/1981, I attended the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University, receiving my MBA with a focus in Strategic Planning. Students could not graduate without maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher throughout the entire program.
THE GI BILL not only paid for my two years at Elon College, but it also paid for my two years at Wake Forest. In addition to paying my tuition and books, it gave me a monthly stipend because I was married with a child.
During those 4 years of education, I worked FULL TIME as well. I had NO STUDENT DEBT to pay back once I graduated from both schools.
During my 45-year career, I held the following positions (partial list):
- Director of Product Efficacy for a microbiological media manufacturer
- Executive Director of the Alamance County Arts Council
- Director of Focused Industrial Training for a Community College in NC
- Instructor of Quality Management and Team Oriented Problem Solving at that same college
- Director of the Center for Quality and Productivity Training at a Community College in TN
- Assistant Professor of Quality Management at that same college
- Quest Training, Inc. Owner/CEO - consultant for quality and productivity training in TN
- Corporate Director of Quality Improvement at an injection molding company in TN
- Director of Industry Training at a Community College in Chattanooga, TN
- Dean of Students at ITT Technical Institute, Chair of Business, and Professor of Technical Project Management in TN
- Director of Education at Daymar College in Belleview, Kentucky
- Visiting Professor of Business at Carson Newman University in TN (3 years prior to my retirement)
NOTE: At no time during my 45 years career did any employer asked to see my transcripts as a pre-requisite for hiring nor did they care about my GPA. They were only interested in whether or not I could ACHIEVE RESULTS.
