Greeks have been known to bear….

Greeks have been known to bear….

I was among the first students to enroll in Wheeling College in Wheeling, WV. The college consisted of an administration building and a classroom building floating on a sea of mud and construction. When I went to register I was told my classes. When I saw calculus and trig, I said “No way!” I had just spent my senior year copying geometry from Danny White. The response was “Then you will have to take Greek.” Before I could even say no to that, I was sitting in front of Father Gannon who said “Recite the Greek alphabet.”

Years later when I applied to graduate school, I was asked “Any bad grades?’ “D in first semester Greek” I replied. The counselor laughed.

Years after that I would explain to my English classes the benefits of knowing Latin and Greek root words.