In fact on my many trips from Nacogdoches to Amarillo to earn college money I distinctly remember driving through Memphis on Hwy 287 thinking, "What a dreary little town...I feel sorry for anyone that has to live here." This is a dangerous way of thinking, as there may be plans just for you in a place that you don't like looking from the outside in!
I was taking a Spanish class called "Independent Studies" during the first summer session of 1982, on the second floor of the liberal arts building there at SFA. Ignacio Muñoz and Vivian Gruber were my advisors and mentors, and my assignment was to help teach a graduate class to public school teachers who were studying to acquire their bilingual certification. Plus I ran the language lab for an hour each day. It was a breeze, and one of the best summers of my life partly because those assignments were so fulfilling.
One day I was looking at the bulletin board checking on job postings, as I was due to graduate that summer. One stood out for me because it offered a high school Spanish position as well as some science classes. That fit perfectly because I was about to graduate with a double major, in Spanish and biology. I tore the little tab off and carried it home to make a phone call to the Memphis Independent School District.
I spoke to Neil Hindman, the high school principal, and he readily agreed to see me for an interview. On the appointed day I made the 450-mile drive, leaving early to arrive in time for the afternoon interview. As I got close enough to see the town I thought, Oh no, it can't be the same little town I didn't even like to look at on my drives to Amarillo! Indeed it was.
Because it was summer and because my old Olds Delta 88 did not have a functioning air conditioner, I carried my dress clothes and changed in a gas station restroom after arriving. Mr. Hindman et al hired me on the spot...I had a job! And I felt a good vibe about it.
Very unfortunately, however, I chose to stay in Nacogdoches to begin work on a graduate degree (for all the wrong reasons) and called them to decline the offer. They were disappointed but said OK.
To boil it down to one statement, my graduate year at SFA in '82-'83 was a disaster and by the end of that spring I again needed a teaching job. Texarkana offered me a position, but the vibe wasn't right and I turned it down. Finally one day I picked up the phone and called Mr. Hindman and asked if the previous year's position was open. Indeed it was, and before a minute was up I was given a start date.
The rest is history, as they say - very soon after beginning teacher inservice I met Jon and Betty and learned that there surely was a Plan for me to be there the year before, in light of the void that they felt all year and the disaster that was my year in graduate school. Better late than never, I suppose! Lesson learned...
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