Roy Wilson - Math & Computer Science ‘76 (40th Anniversary submission)

It is the summer of 1969. Having dropped out of high school for the final time, I have entered the only open-enrollment institution around, Metro. Walking toward the Cherokee Building, located near Speer, I see a building that looks like it is used for industrial purposes. After entering, I think “Is Metro a fly-by-night operation?” If memory serves, there were classes on one side of the building and what looked like heavy industry of sorts on the other.

I took an English class taught by Charles Bursiel and was a bit nervous. The next semester, I took Freshman Composition from Joy Yunker (recently deceased), who advised me that I should narrow the scope of my proposed paper topic, saying “Leave that for your dissertation”. Over thity-five years later, I completed a dissertation and now have a Ph.D. I (and others) owe the early educators at Metro a debt of gratitude for their commitment, knowledge, and skill.

(reprinted from the 40th Anniversary Our Stories Web site)