The Professor

It was my first class in school that used an auditorium and my school was pretty small at the time, something like 7,000 students and most classes had about 30-40 kids in them, but there were a few of these introductory classes that held over 300 and this one also happened to be an emerging new subject; Sociology.
The professor walked on stage and he immediately became my perfect stereotype of what a professor should be; in his 50's, wild, white bushy hair and a big white mustache. I still remember his first words as his assistants busied themselves passing out papers to all of us in the audience.

"If all you are seeking is an A in this class, merely look up the answers to the questions on the papers I am passing out. If you want to learn about Sociology and the world you are living in, come to my lectures, because nothing from them will be on the test."

This guy tapped into my head like no other had before and created a longing in me to learn for it's own sake. It was as if he knew that there were people that didn't see a grade equalling a good job, and were after knowledge itself.

I learned a lot from him in the 4 years I attended that school. He became my advisor and I remember him predicting that someday there would be machines that would spit out a whole book for us instead of having to borrow them from libraries (this was back in the early 1970's). He knew that computers were going to be big, but it was still too far away in the future.

Dr. Burton Wright retired from UCF a long time ago, but his influence upon me still lingers..