Sunday, June 29, 2008

Arizona

My office was in Old Main. My Introductory Psychology class were taught ti The Old Main Auditorium. My other classes were in Child Development. While at St. Andrew’s I had taken a part time opportunity to teach Introductory Psychology at a Community college in South Carolina at night. I only went one day a week. The extra income was very helpful.
My second year at Pembroke I was made the acting head of the Psychology department, I was asked to hire another professor. An ad was placed in the Psychology Today magazine. I received several applicants. The one that impressed me the most was Wright Killian who was graduating with a Master’s Degree in psychology from East Carolina University. He had recently married and he was interested in settling down in Lumberton. He was hired and the department offered two sections of Introduction.
The department moved to Locklear Hall, a real separation from the Education Department and both Wright and I had an office. The third year a Department Head with a Doctorate was hired. Joe Sumner was trained in the same area that I was. He took away my Child Development course. He also took my office and sent me back to Old Main. This was a very unpleasant year for me. Since I wanted to begin work on my Doctorate, I worked out in several directions to take a Semester out for study. I selected Arizona State University because I wanted to continue exploring the Western scenery which we had seen briefly on our trip with the children. I applied for a federal grant for professors teaching minority groups which I received, Ellen was still teaching and I had accumulated some savings which was used for financing. I stayed in an apartment complex where other students were housed. I met a female student two doors down who liked horseback riding. She had brought her own horse and I rented one to ride in the scenic desert areas. This was as far as our relationship went.
My classes were of course in the psychology area. Statistics and Physiological were my most difficult courses. Child Development and Play Therapy were my most interesting courses. The Play Therapy class taught us the principles to be applied in the Therapy situation. I had a female partner. She was with the girls and I was with the boys. The partner talked with the parents while the child was in the play situation usually limited to an hour. The child was in complete charge to do as he wanted to.