Spring 2009 Crossings Extras
Letter from Alumnus Bill McDonald
Dear Mr. [Pat] Johns,
This letter represents a note of my appreciation for the fine education I received some thirty years ago, at Anoka-Ramsey Community College. First, a little background; I graduated in 1955 from Morgan Park High School, Duluth ranked 57 1/2 out of a graduating class of 59 students. One student, I believe, was somewhat incognito, the other, who I was tied with, never attended class.
Frankly, I never like high school. It did not fit into what I considered to be one of the fun things of life. The outdoors, for me, represented adventure and excitement, getting to know the unknown. During the 11th grade I was required to take English Literature from a very tough disciplinarian, a Miss Lillie Wickstrom. She loved the classics; The Tale of Two Cities, The House of Seven Gables and the poems of Longfellow, Keats and Sandburg. On the other hand I like modern paperbacks; authors like Robert Heinlein, Zane Grey and Luke Short, who in my mind were gifted writers that should have replaced the classics.
I was 17 years old when I failed her class. However, I am proud to say it was the first of only two classes I ever failed. During the end of my final class with her, and following my review of the report card, I found that I had received seven points out of the necessary eight points required to pass. Like any 17 year old brave male student I went up to Miss Wickstrom and begged and pleaded with her to give me a passing grade so I wouldn’t have to spend my summer in a make-up class. No, was her answer.
This is what she told me, “Mr. MacDonald, the only redeeming quality you possess is that you never disrupted my class. It seemed you were always too busy reading your trash paperbacks or reading classic funny books trying to prepare for a test on the classics.” She went on to say (like all teachers profess), “had you applied yourself you could have made a passing grade and went on to college to make something of yourself rather than ending up working at the Morgan Park steel plant.”
Now, 50 years after her little talk with me, I have a Bachelor’s Degree from Metropolitan State University and a Master’s from Hamline University. You may find it difficult to believe but I dedicated my Synthesis (thesis) to Miss Lillie Wickstrom, along with my wife and my mother. Prior to her death in 1998 I used to visit her and on one such occasion I gave her a copy of my Synthesis. It was not given out of spite but because she was one of the teachers who made me realize that learning was something of great value and in many ways fun. Twenty years after Miss Wickstrom’s little talk with me, in 1974, I began my college career at Anoka-Ramsey Community College.
While at Anoka-Ramsey I compiled some 90 credits ending with a GPA of 2.75, not the best of scores but certainly an improvement from my days at Morgan Park High School. I left Anoka-Ramsey on or about 1979 to attend Metro State and then to Hamline graduating with a Masters in 1990 with 3.17 GPA. I agree all my college GPA’s certainly were not of high honors but never-the-less represented a respectable level of achievement.
During my stay at Anoka-Ramsey, I was privileged to have had some of the greatest Professors; Skottegaard, Malmquist, Hanson and many others whose names have long since escaped me. There were polished professionals who made learning exciting. Several other indicators that caught my eye when I was selecting a college was cost, along with campus and classroom layout and the travel distance from my home in Coon Rapids to the college. I also heard by word-of-mouth your college had much to contribute; a definite plus.
In total, I reviewed eight colleges and, by far, Anoka-Ramsey Community College came away number one! I would also like to say of all the colleges I attended (six in total) yours was the best of the best. In many ways it was your classroom instructors who made it possible for me to transcend from a person who could care less about obtaining a formal education to one who decided to test the waters of higher learning.
As for Lillie Wickstrom, I would suspect they don’t produce the likes of her any longer. She was also a polished professional who was willing to battle a student at every turn in the road and who would win every battle. I attended her funeral in the late 1990’s and gave a brief testimonial as to her providing direction to my future. She may have been the best thing that ever happened to me and in some ways, helped me to map out the future direction of my life.
You are heading up a fine institution, Mr. Johns, and please never give up on the high school underachiever; they, too, may have valuable things to contribute. A helping hand may be all they need.
Respectfully,
Bill MacDonald
|