Uncle Marshall Brown came by to visit Frank Smith when
he began plowing the field for spring planting. Uncle Marshall always came to
check on Frank since Frank was a young farmer, and Uncle Marshall had a good
knowledge of farming. The story goes that Uncle Marshall told Frank he needed a
son to assist with the farming in that he already had three girls. According to
the story Frank agreed, and told that he planned on taking care of that. Almost
to the date nine months later Stanley Paul Smith was born December 3, 1940 in
Bryan County, Oklahoma. This began the adventure of Stanley Paul Smith.
The
first fifteen years consisted of learning to farm, milk cows, feed and care for
the farm animals. The times when not farming I was sent to school to learn how
to read and write. Schools I attended were country schools with the classes’
one through six in the same room usually taught by the same teacher. All the schools I attended during those years
did not have indoor plumbing. Unlike at home we had a girl’s outhouse separate
from the boy’s.
Despite
my begging and pleading I was taken away from my beloved Oklahoma, and forced
to come to Texas. Greiner Junior High in Dallas, Texas became my very first
real school. There were more people in the school than in any town I had ever
been to. At first I was in shock at all the things there. Kids driving their
own cars to school, a real football team, pep rallies, plays in the auditorium,
rock and roll dances in the gym on Friday night. People who were in charge of
the dances called the dances “sock hops”, or by names similar.
Being
“country” in a city school often had it bad moments, but there were also some
good ones. Sometimes it became necessary to defend myself from individuals
poking fun at someone who had to milk cows and farm for a living. Pretty soon
after moving to the city I got a job in a grocery store. I had to drive a truck
to deliver groceries, stock the shelves, and bag the groceries. I remember the
owner’s response when I told him I couldn’t drive a vehicle. His words were
something to the effect of it’s just like a tractor only don’t get caught
otherwise you might get a ticket.
W.H.
Adamson was my next school. I attended there for the next three years and
graduated in 1959. At the time I thought I was getting a real education.
Compared to what the education system is now I was totally mistaken. I was
fortunate to get on a work program where I went to school a half day and worked
a half day. Back then they called it Distributive Education. My final year there
I won a trophy and a certificate as “Outstanding Student” in my class. My
senior year I had the privilege of working in Downtown Dallas. There I
discovered what it was like to see movies in the Majestic, Palace, and some
other theaters. Downtown Dallas in 1959 was the place to shop and I was
fortunate to visit all the good places there. This time was just prior to the
time companies were beginning to build shopping malls outside of downtown.
After
graduation I wanted no more education, so I joined the U.S. Army. During my
tour I served as a Military Policeman, worked as a clerk typist and transported
secret documents among other duties. I also worked for a year in the training
section my duties were as a film projectionist. Through the goodness of the Army
I traveled to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and 38 other states. The best came
when they allowed me to take an extended tour in Europe. I visited Germany,
France, England, Holland and a host of other countries. I have to admit I was
fascinated by the railway system in Europe.
Becoming
a civilian again I found it necessary to learn a trade to support my family. I
started working on cars and became pretty good at it. I spent the next forty
five years as a General Motors Mechanic. All in all it was a pretty successful
career until I damaged my shoulders and had to have surgery in 2007. During my
recovery I found I couldn’t get hired without some college unless I wanted to
work for minimum wage. Not strong enough to work safely on vehicles I made the
decision to check my military benefits and see about attending college. At that
time my aspirations were to become a writer, or a paid story teller. During my
recovery I had written my first book. After writing my first book I realized I
knew nothing about writing. This led me to Navarro College to sharpen my
skills.
Attending
college for the first time in the spring of 2009 at the age of 68 was quite a
shock to me. There I discovered with the help of a tutor I could pass the
classes. Along the way one of my counselors suggested that with my experience I
might consider becoming a teacher. I also found out that I could get a loan I
didn’t have to pay back if I could make the grade. At the end of the first
semester I took my grades to the finance office where they said a 3.8 was more
than enough to qualify for the loan. After all this time I was quiet happy with
myself that I had the potential to become a teacher. The truth is I always held
educators on a very high pedestal and never considered myself of that caliber.
Finding out I had the potential enlightened me to work harder and get the right
training to become a teacher. There have been some times when the studies were
not so easy, but so far I am on my way.
I
am sure with the right attitude and the willingness to work hard I will reach
my goal. Surely there will be some bumps in the road. Almost every day I find
it true that if it was easy anybody could do it. Well, the truth is it is not
easy to become an educator. The one thing that upsets me the most is to see
children pass from one grade to the next and unable to spell or read at the
proper level. After I succeed and start teaching my plan is that all my
students will know how to read and spell better. In the meantime I will
continue to try and improve my own writing and reading. I like to think of life
as an adventure and plan on continuing mine for as long as possible.
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