Back To University

In 1960 I was to have a dream fulfilled; I was going to university full time. I had attended Teachers College and taught for six years, five of those as a principal. During these days I managed to get married, fathered a child and saved a few dollars. It was always my dream to attend full time but with a wife and child to support I could only do just that; dream. Circumstances changed quickly as I was invited to attend Olympic tryouts for the half-mile. At the same time, I was offered a full time position as a teacher in a new federal program called Program 10. I would work evening shifts at the local secondary school between the hours of 5pm and 11pm. This was a well paying job and I had to make up my mind in a hurry.

In your life there are times when a decision will have a tremendous impact on your future. This was one for me as I always dreamed both about the Olympics and university. But this decision would clearly cut one of these options out. After discussing this dilemma with my wife I had to make the decision to go back to university with a stable position and a definite future. The truth of the matter was that even though I was invited to the Olympic trials I would never have made the team. My times were poorer than three others that I ran against in the past so it wasn't a matter of giving up a podium finish.

I had only a matter of days before I had to report to Laurentian  University and work for the Sudbury School Board. Because we lived in Northern Ontario we decided to sell our worldly goods, and this was difficult, and purchase new items when we found a place to live.

This decision was possibly one of my best ones as we moved to Sudbury and I achieved two main goals. One was returning to university and the other was being able to support my family during the process. We found a small apartment and settled in and I prepared for my tasks. I was so nervous the first day of university with the registration and coping with the new surroundings. Laurentain was a new bilingual school with a small enrolment and you quickly got to know most of the fellow students. Small classes were a definite advantage and as I was taking philosophy and religious studies I was surrounded by books, books and more books. My problem was time to read all these.

My new teaching position was something else as my assignment was new to me. Mechanical drafting and science  so I had to keep one step ahead of the adult students. It was fun and a challenge.Within two months I was asked to be the on site principal and this gave me a little more money and some freedom as I had one less class to teach.

During this new year of adventures I discovered that education was indeed my niche and philosophy my passion.We as a family grew to realize this arrangement came at a cost. I was too busy and this placed a great deal of responsibility on my wife and family. This would be my fate for the next thirty years until I retired.

As I look back I still wonder if I could have won that race in Saskatoon and what would have been but the moment is temporary and I never regretted for a moment going back to university.