Technically I entered Mizzou as a sophomore. I took advantage of this dual-credit program my senior year of high school, where you can take college classes in high school for ridiculously discounted prices, so I had something like 31 hours of college credit when I first stepped foot on campus. The only downside to this was that I felt pressure to figure out what major I would declare more quickly than a lot of other freshman. At first I was undecided but I had this personal goal to declare by the second semester of that first year. I saw advisers, I thumbed through course catalogs and I talked with friends to figure out my strengths and weaknesses and desires. I think it is a lot of pressure for someone who is 17 or 18 to declare their course of study and subsequently their career path. I just figured I would pick the thing I would most enjoy studying for the next four years.
At first I took classes in history and english because that's where the standardized tests from high school said I excelled. But those classes ended up being really boring, for the most part. By the time winter rolled around I had pretty much figured out that I was most passionate about health and physical fitness. If Mizzou would have had physical education as a major I probably would have chosen that, but they didn't so I picked Nutrition & Fitness and never looked back. It was actually a really science-heavy major, which I found challenging in a good way and I felt like we were actually paying for an education and not just a degree.
In my spare time I trained to be a Young Life leader and was placed at Hickman High School second semester. I went to Campus Crusade for Christ on Thursday nights and got involved with a bible study through that ministry. That is where I met some of my favorite friends from my college memories. I got along really well with my randomly assigned roommate, Debbie, who I roomed with the next year and who also had me as a bridesmaid in her wedding. I really thrived in the dorm that year, making friends with practically everybody on my floor. For most of the year a bunch of us would go out to this field across the street, which was lit up by tennis court lights, and play soccer every night from 10 PM til the lights went out at midnight. That felt to me like the epitome of college living, and I was sober the whole time.
Second semester I took this class called Personal and Family Management. It was a very popular class that mostly upperclassmen took, but I audaciously showed up for class the first day with a permission slip for the professor to sign to let me add it, even though it was a full roster. Dr. Israelsen signed my slip and I showed up and sat in the front row for the rest of the semester. It was a writing-intensive course, officially, and unofficially it was extremely thought provoking. It was probably the best class I ever took at Mizzou.
About midway through the semester I made it a habit of going to visit him during office hours, just to talk. I don't know how it started, but he was so wise and personal with students and he was a runner, like me, so conversation just flowed like I imagine it did for the student-teacher pair in Tuesdays with Morrie.
One day during one of our visits it came up that I didn't have a mom. Dr. Israelsen was a family man and a professor in family studies so family was a common topic for us. Anyway, when I mentioned this he looked at me and said, "Your dad raised you by himself?" I answered, "Yes, me and my brother and sisters." He sat back in his chair and kind of exhaled as he said, "Wow, he did a great job." To this day, that is probably the best compliment that I have ever received. I know he was really complimenting my dad, but it made me think about the fourth commandment in a different way; like even though I didn't know I was doing it, I was honoring my father and mother with my life.
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