Chapter 11: The Road to Somewhere: The Passing and Evolution of an Academic

In August 1996, I found myself sitting in freshman-level classes at Augusta College after spending six years in the U.S. Army, thanks to the GI Bill I was able to pay for college. I remember thinking to myself “I don’t belong here.” I felt lost while listening to 18 year olds engage in classroom discussions with professors while I sat mystified by the amount of knowledge these younger students possessed. I must have forgotten everything in the six years since I graduated or I finally had proof that I goofed off during those four years of high school. Also there was cultural knowledge the other students possessed that I lacked being a first generation college student. I also found that I was often stereotyped due to being southern, male, heterosexual, and a veteran. There were many instances when I would get strange looks from fellow students and professors because I would expound a “liberal view” on topics. Due to how people typecast me I was not supposed to think “that way.”