The College Kid - Part 2

Finding my old college ID card brought back a flood of memories about those times. Part one of this time of my life is this HNT post .

Soon after I was discharged from the army in 1970, I went to the VA and asked about educational benefits. Since I had a 70% disability rating from being wounded, they told me I could go to any college or trade school that would accept me. They told me that they would pay my full tuition, all books and supplies, and a monthly living allowance. In short a free ride and then some. I jumped at the chance.

I didn't know what school I should go to, because didn't know what I wanted to for a living or even have an inkling of an idea what I was qualified to do. All I knew for certain, was that I didn't want to work outside for the electric company any longer. I'd, so I asked them if they would test me to see what I would be good at doing. No problem they said, that that's what they are there for.

I drove the 40 or so miles into Brooklyn on two different days and took a lot of different types of tests. Things like IQ tests, aptitude test, etc. At the end of the second day I sat down with a counselor to find out what my future held for me.

"Let's see, it looks like your most qualified to be a musician. Do you play an instrument?

"Uh, no."

"Have you ever played an instrument?"

"No, not really. I did take guitar lessons for a while when I was a teenager and piano lessons too, but I never stuck with it that long."

"Okay, the next thing on the list is a high aptitude for electronics."

"Good, I'd like to do that. I'd like to learn to fix computers."

"There is an excellent college in Arizona we could send you to."

If you remember, I live in New York and living in the desert didn't appeal to me at all.

"No, I don't want to leave home right now. Being away for two years in the army is enough for now. Anything closer?"

"Let's see. Yes. There's an excellent school on Long Island, the New York Institute of Technology. You could go there if they accept you."

I didn't think that would happen in a million years. I barely passed high school due to my complete lack of effort. I think my average was a D minus-minus. I was something like 35th in my class, from the bottom!

"Why would they ever accept me? My grades sucked in high school."

"They will, but you'll have to take high school level courses at no credit to qualify. If you do well, they will accept you. We'll pay for that, so don't worry about money."

Can you believe it? They'll even pay for that. Same deal applied too. They footed the bill for everything and sent me a check each month to help me live. How could I say no? I jumped at that chance in a heartbeat. I was going to be a college boy!