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I lived in Collegeville, MN at St. John's University (SJU). This was my freshman year, and I lived in Tommie (St. Thomas of Aquinas) Hall. At this point, SJU and the College of St. Benedicts (CSB) cooperated in many areas, but they were separate legal entities. For example, the mathematics department cooperated jointly so classes might be held at SJU or at CSB, but each faculty member was hired by either SJU or CSB, not a joint organization like it is now. If my memory is correct, the top two floors of Tommie Hall had only freshmen, and I lived on the fourth floor. It was the first room on the left after coming up the stairs, perhaps 401. A downside to being there is that groups tended to keep their volume high until they had ventured past the first several rooms, but the upside was the ease of getting to my room or leaving for class.
My father had taught at St. John's in the biology department from 1958 until 1965, and he had a (mostly) good experience. When I was early in my senior year in high school, one day he mentioned that it would be nice if at least one of his children attended St. John's. He never said anything more. At that point, I had not really started looking. Two brothers followed behind me, but I don't know if they got the same encouragement or not. Additionally, since I was seeing Marcia regularly, it was easier to do so if I was somewhat local. I was generally able to hitchhike into St. Cloud and back without too much walking.
Since I had been good at science and mathematics in school, I had the mindset that I might be interested in doing engineering, which is somewhat of a marriage between these two areas. To that end, I took Calculus (not available to me in high school) and physics. I was invited into the honors program at SJU and chose the government class for a variety of reasons. I was already taking a Greek class at my church, so I definitely wanted to formally take it here. I don't recall much about the Applied Stats CS course. In the fall semester, I took:
I had Father Melchior Freund for Calculus. He was a good natured fellow, but a stickler for details, which was good. However, after seeing that I got a B on my first exam because I missed a negative sign twice on this 20 question multiple choice exam, I realized that I needed to become more careful. I was used to partial credit for a problem, not all or nothing. For physics, as indicated above, I took the Individual version where I taught myself with the help of some physics majors who were available to explain problems or answer questions. I then took an exam after each chapter. Read An "Easier" Way of Taking Physics for my view on this course, which taught me to be a better reader. The government class involved a lot of reading and writing of papers, but I don't think any tests. We did discuss a lot in class. My teacher for Beginning Greek was a pipe-smoking, typical college professor who loved his material. He was a good guy and I enjoyed him and the course. We used Machen's book, a classic for NT Greek.
St. John's, along with a number of other schools, followed what was called a 4-1-4 plan: four courses in the fall, one January term course, and then 4 courses in the spring. I really liked the Greek course, so I asked my professor if I could take an independent project with him where I would try to read and translate the Gospel of John (from Greek). We got through a substantial portion of this gospel, and I learned a lot.
As I said, I liked the Greek course so much, but I also wanted to take another mathematics course, so I asked the Greek instructor if I could just sit in on the course but do all of the work. He was fine with it (though perhaps partly he agreed because he was having an issue with the administration and wanted to thumb his nose at them without being seen). I also wanted to continue Calculus (again with Freund, I believe) and Physics (again with the individualized approach) since at this point, I was still interested in engineering. I knew I had to take a theology course some time, and I chose this one. So my spring semester looked like this:
I was really glad to take the second semester of Greek. It prepared me to be a lifetime reader of Greek. When I got to Pella, I joined a group of pastors and others who were involved in a Greek Bible study, which reinforced and strengthened those skills. For many years, I have only brought my Greek New Testament to church and hope that the message is focused on a NT passage. I learned a lot in the NT theology course, though much of it was liberal theology, but it was worth learning as well. My professor there (a monk) was quite knowledgeable and had little patience for those who wanted a Sunday School course. The second semester of physics definitely strengthened my ability to read and read again until the content made sense.
The Foundations of Mathematics course was also a pivotal course in my life. It really helped me to see that mathematics could be viewed as a beautiful field worthy of studying on its own and not just as a utilitarian tool for the sciences. This course, on its own, convinced me to set my major as mathematics. I also decided to pursue secondary education as a means of a profession. I also appreciated the professor, Jerry Lenz. He impacted my career and influenced me to include applying to the University of Notre Dame when I started that process seeking a Ph.D.
Most freshmen at St. John's had a job that had them work in the refectory there. Those refectory workers lowest on the pole worked on the "slop line", where the dirty dishes were received and processed, but there were many other jobs in the refectory at SJU that were not as bad. However, there were always a few who had one of the "soft jobs" (which I think is the term that my brother Lou told me I had - guess what he had). I was fortunate to be one of those few. But at least at my job, I had to work. Some other workers just had to show up, and then do what they wanted. My job was in the Admission Office. I gave tours to prospective students, helped stuff mailing packets, helped carry bags of these mailings to the post office, and did many other office tasks. I enjoyed it.
In the fall during Homecoming, Mom and Dad came to campus and brought Marcia along. I remember walking along the Warner Palaestra (gym) on a sunny afternoon and Dad put his arms around me on one side and Marcia on the other. I don't remember ever anything like that before.
My roommate was from Edina (whom we called cake eaters, in reference, erroneously, to Marie Antoinette). His name was John and we got along fine, even if we didn't do much together. He respected my schedule, and I his. Usually, I would wake early and walk down the hall to the general purpose room (with TV and meant for gathering). I would read the Bible there and have my devotions. Then, I would come back, leave my backpack and then pick up my pre-packed backpack and head to the Refectory in time to be one of the earliest customers. I would then find another place to study before my 8:00 class.
I remember Marcia occasionally calling me at the one public phone available for the whole wing of the floor. Sometimes we talked too long as we talked about various issues.
The priest on the floor was technically my assigned advisor, but I don't think I ever asked any academic questions of him. Actually, I didn't see him very often and I don't he knew my name with there being a large number of students on his floor. That was fine.
Published 2026-07-24.
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