My teaching career…
My teaching career began in a very strange way. I was drafted into the U.S. Army on a technicality’ upon completion of my pre-medical studies and had just begun medical school at the onset of the Cuban Crises. When I finished active duty, I took on a job in medical research at U.C.L.A. planning on re-entering med school at the beginning of the coming year.
I worked on a Diabetes grant that was under the direction of one of the Medical School professors. I was a little dumbfounded. though, to see by boss constantly in his office writing while his T.A.s were teaching his classes. I not forget the day I was grumbling about such a prestigious school using teaching assistants to train the students when one of his colleagues turned to me and said: “Mr. Bidwell, if you don’t like the system, why don’t you go back to school and get
Larry Bidwell your credential: then, get a job and change the system; or, quit your bitchin’!”
I didn’t mull on this long. I soon resigned, got a job teaching in a Catholic High School and worked on my credential taking night classes. It was a class at Cal State Northridge that remains vivid to this day. Now. I don’t remember what the boring class was all about, but I do recall an older gal sitting at the far end of our table that I caught glancing at me every’ now and then. I’m sure, too, that she caught me glancing at her as she did look a bit familiar.
At the 20-minute smoke break (that’s what they called them in those days), we got to talking about where we had met before. Eventually, we got down that wre w’ere from the same town (Oxnard). When we got into the schools I attended, she stood back aghast: “You? You? Now’ I remember you. What are you doing in the class?” When I told her that I was presently teaching, but working for my credential, I thought she was going to faint as the cigarette tumbled from her fingers. You see, she happened to be my 6th grade teacher.
Although I’ll write about some of my behavior those days, w’hat this incident taught me was to give problem students hope: and, esp. the opportunity’.