The Road Not Taken: Another Path

Chapter 6

January 17, 1972

The Christmas break was over and classes were beginning once again. Sam was happy to be back at school. Additionally, basketball season was going full bore. Sam had traveled further a field with his team, the away games taking him places he wouldn't have seen otherwise. The only part he didn't like was getting on the planes. The fear of heights he'd had since he was nine made that part of being on the team hard to take.

He remembered back to the day when he first became aware of that fear. He and Tom had gone to a Tarzan movie. When they got back to the farm, they'd been playing in the loft and swinging on the rope on the pulley that was used to move things in the barn. Tom had noticed that the rope had loosened and he'd sent Sam up to tighten it. Sam had noticed the drop of three stories and had found himself frozen with fear. Ever since that day, getting higher than a few feet off the ground had scared him terribly.

If it hadn't been for George Fetzer, one of his teammates, he didn't know how he would have gotten through some of those flights. George played forward. He was from Marion, Ohio and was a year ahead of him in school. They usually flew on one of the smaller planes with two seats next to each other on either side of the aisle. The first time they gotten on, George had offered Sam the window seat. Sam remembered that conversation.

"Uh….no. I'll just sit here on the aisle."

"All right." George had watched as Sam had sat down, closed his eyes and started taking breaths in through his nose and out his mouth, his hands gripping the arms of the seat. "You OK?"

"Um, no. Not really. I have a fear of heights."

"I guess flying can be a bit difficult then."

"Yeah. I don't like it much." Sam gave a nervous little laugh, "but I guess if we have to play elsewhere, I don't have a choice."

George had immediately closed the sash on the window next to him. "Well, at least you don't have to see anything to scare you out this way."

"Are you afraid of heights, too?

"No, but if you are, I don't have to look out the window."

Sam had smiled, gratefully. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. So, you're new on the team this year."

"Yeah. I'm a freshman Ag student."

"I'm a sophomore. Getting my degree in mechanical engineering."

They had spent the next hour talking about their plans and school and before Sam knew it, they were landing.

"Gee, I hardly even noticed the flight. That's a first."

"Yeah, if you keep your mind off of it, it's not nearly so bad."

"Thanks, George," Sam had said, his eyes showing how much it meant to him that his new friend had helped him out.

"Hey, I had a great time talking. You're a pretty interesting dude to talk to."

This type of thing had occurred during each away game where they had flown. George always took the window seat and kept up a conversation with Sam throughout the flight. George had been impressed with Sam's natural ability to think through problems and his mechanical aptitude, which Sam attributed to working on the farm equipment. George wasn't so sure. When they had discussed Bernoulli's Principle and the various areas that it touched in mechanical engineering, George had felt that Sam's grasp far exceeded what most in his chosen field took from it.

When they were back on campus, they also would get together after games. That was how George met Pete Fisk. They had also become friends. Sam had found that Tom was indeed right about making friends in college. It was exciting getting to know people studying in their chosen academic fields and their lives beyond that.

Sam found the array of possibilities on campus interesting. He found himself wanting to learn more about a variety of topics. He wanted to learn more about physics, medicine, computer science, engineering, and to further his knowledge of music and archeology. Whenever he had the time, he would go to lectures by visiting subject experts. College provided such a dizzying smorgasbord of academic pursuits. Sam had decided to take at least a few courses outside of the Agricultural curriculum.

He'd gone to the counseling department and found that he could receive college credits by taking CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) tests which would allow him to achieve an advanced placement. As such, Sam would be able to take some higher-level physics classes which fascinated him. Even if it wouldn't help out much on the farm, it did provide a level of satisfaction to keep his mind sharp. While the Ag coursework was interesting, he found that he needed to expand outwards from its limited scope.

Between basketball, his schoolwork, and lectures, Sam was quite happy. He only occasionally wondered if going to MIT would have been a better choice. After all, he could still learn so much. He had friends and he knew that he had been able to help out his father. He was sure that the Farmer's Market would be an excellent source of income for the struggling farmers in his hometown.

At the meeting that had been held in the church just after the first of the year, Sam had been gratified to find that about two thirds of the farm families in Elk Ridge and some of the surrounding communities had decided to attend. While he was not the most comfortable with public speaking, Sam was able to present the concept in an exciting light. He had invited the Department of Agriculture Extension Agent, Fred Johnson, who had long experience with many of the farmers, to help him with the pitch. With both of them touting the concept as a potentially partial solution to the issues facing their farms, many had left with hope firmly implanted again. Sam felt that if even a third of the people in the room made it a reality, the Farmer's Market would help them keep their farms. His father voiced his pride in Sam after the meeting, giving Sam a warm feeling inside.

Now, back at school, Sam looked forward to the next semester. The future had never looked brighter. He had his friends, school was going great, basketball as always was a joy, and the farm looked to be if not healthy, at least on the mend. All in all, Sam felt life was good.