I didn't have an opportunity to go to college but I would put my combined education from all these career choices up against almost anyone who did attend college. By that I mean just the general knowledge one gains through advanced study which helps in your every day living or running a business, etc. (not a medical or legal or specialized degree, etc.) I went into all of them knowing nothing about the position and came out pretty knowledgeable.
I’m nor knocking college and if there had been a good counselor at the high school when I was there, I would probably have tried to go. I found out many years afterward that I had been awarded a National Merit Award scholarship but no one ever told me that, or encouraged me to follow up on it, and I didn't even realize that's what I was doing the morning I went to the school and took the test. I was the oldest child and raised by my grandparents who had no knowledge about the possibility of college for me, so I had no family encouragement, and I wasn’t in the inner circle or clique of those applying for and winning scholarships. Things were much different in 1961 than they are now. So many high school graduates didn’t go on to college, just got a job and moved on into life. Plus Rice-Stix had just closed its doors and it appeared my grandmother would be without a job, so my foremost concern was helping what I could with finances for the family.
But God in His wisdom always knows best and I gained tremendous knowledge from my years as a legal secretary. Loved it, and John F. Low was an excellent teacher who taught me to love words, and how to write a professional letter, and all kinds of legal stuff like probate and real estate, etc. He taught me to take pride in what I did. No letter or legal document ever went out of his office over his name without him checking it with a fine tooth comb for grammar and spelling, sentence construction etc. That has carried on through my life. As a pastor, I never would let anyone do my church bulletins because so many people can’t spell and if my name is going to be on it, it is going to be perfect! The newspaper editors I worked for soon found that out, also. If you want to see me throw a fit, use affect instead of effect in a headline you write on my column.
I didn't know a thing about insurance when New York hired me but I qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table in a few years, the only Lebanon agent to do that for years
Nationally known Springfield attorney Dee Wampler mentored me in politics and writing as a columnist for a newspaper. And I had good pastoral leadership who made sure I was in church every week and who taught me how to teach the Bible to others and gave me many opportunities to teach and stand in front of people and communicate well.
So I’ve been a lifelong student and still am, but I have had unbelievable mentorship and support along the way and for that I am most grateful. And I’ve had the best husband and marriage and family anyone could possibly want.
© Joan Rowden Hart 2005
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