I mentioned in a previous blog that I went to college on a three and three program – three years undergraduate and three years of law school.  That meant that I graduated from undergraduate school at the end of my first year of law school.  The real trick was to make sure I got all my required courses completed during the first three years.  Each year, every course had to take care of some requirement – so many hours of math and science, so many hours of English and a bundle of hours in my political science major.  I really worked at it, because if I screwed up, I wouldn’t graduate.

It was tight, but it worked out.  In fact, that last semester, I had three hours left with no requirement.  I could take anything I wanted.  This was kind of a treat.  I sat down with the University of Missouri catalog of courses and just started in.  As you will see, if you don’t know what you are doing, it is not a good idea.  I found a course called, “Early Roman History.”  The synopsis sounded like a fun course, so I took it.

It turned out that I enjoyed the course.  The reading material wasn’t bad and the professor was a delight.  I did notice that many of the students asked a lot of follow-up questions.  I just assumed that they were enjoying the course as much as I was.  The professor was Dean Thomas A. Brady whom I had never heard of.  It turned out he was a legend among the faculty and in later years, the new student commons was renamed the Thomas A. Brady Commons (Brady Commons).

The course had two exams, a mid-term and a final.  The mid-term turned out to be pretty straight forward and I thought I did OK.  When the grades came out, I had gotten a “D.”  I couldn’t believe it.  I hadn’t gotten a D in my entire life.  The fellow who sat next to me noticed I was distressed and asked me what was the matter.  Before we finished talking, I discovered that I was the only undergraduate participating in this graduate level History course.  Everyone else in the class was pursuing a masters degree in History.  Boy, did I feel dumb.

I shifted gears.  I really started studying Early Roman History.  I also checked out Dean Brady.  It turned out that in the previous semester he had taught a course in Early Greek History.  His final exam consisted of one question, “From whence cometh the Greek genius?”  Egads!  My one free course had turned into a nightmare.

The final exam was on Tuesday, June 2nd at 9:00 AM.  You ask how I remember?  Well, I was getting married on Saturday, June 6th.  I should have been excited about the wedding, but I was focused on aqueducts and the Roman Senate.  There I sat, hoping I was ready for the challenge.  I felt ready.  At 9 o’clock, the dean had not arrived.  By 10 after, everyone was wondering what was going on.  One female student mentioned that the dean’s office was in the same building and she would be glad to go over and check.  She was told to sit down – that it was the professor’s responsibility to show up.  I guess that’s stuff you learn in graduate school.  They all agreed that we only had to wait 20 minutes and then, we could leave.  I held my breath.  The time expired and everyone scooted out of the room.

I took my last final on Thursday and then dropped by Dean Brady’s office to find out my fate.  Dean Brady told me that he was sorry he had missed the final, but that something had come up.  I wondered whether they would let a student get away with such a lame excuse.  He continued by saying, “Mr. Rice, I have a grade for you.  You can either take the grade or take the examination.  If you take the exam, your grade may end up higher, the same or lower than the grade I have for you.”  I asked what grade he had for me.  He said, “It is a ‘C’.”  I said, “I’ll take it.”  I took it and ran (my Momma didn’t raise no fools).