Reaching Lifelong Goals

Breaking news!!  Non-traditional students find success at OSU!   My daily Oregon State University newspaper, The Daily Barometer published a wonderful article about Non Trads.  I was surprised to find my photo (at left) on the front page, above the fold on this morning’s edition.   The author of the article, Kayley Hanecek, spent about an hour and a half interviewing me about life as an older student in today’s collegiate life.   Her research into the Non-traditional Students at Oregon State was quite complete.   There are 4,615 Non Trads at OSU out of a student population of around 22,000.   The rate of increase over the past couple of years is over 8%, which is most likely due to the downturn of our Nation’s economy.   She goes on to highlight the ASOSU  Non-Traditional Student Task Force and the work they are doing on behalf of the older population at our university.   The article tells my story of being out of school for 35 years and finally coming back to earn my long desired college degree.   I am proud to represent my fellow older students.   My story is probably a little more unique than the majority of Non-traditional Students, my gap in school attendance is not the norm for the demographic.  Many of us are dealing with issues of balancing family life, work and everyday life with the goals of our studies.   The older student is a minority in education today, but a growing section of the population in higher education.   Non trads make up around 20% of the student body at Oregon State University.   Which makes the Non Trads in colleges today one of the fastest growing “minorities” .  In the Nation’s community colleges this percentage is probably higher as the older population is in a retraining mode.   The article also listed that I have been maintaining this Reaching Lifelong Goals.com blog and that I am a volunteer at the Albany Civil Theater.   (actually, it is a CIVIC theater, but we are quite “civil” to each other…)    Kayley tells my story of Non Traditional Student life in a detailed and entertaining way.  It is difficult to condense a lifetime of being a working stiff in the real world, but the author tells it like it was!   The final line of the article is my quote, “I’m unique, I’m just a geek having fun”     I do declare that  indeed, I am a History Geek and my college experience is proving to be a great deal of fun.    I am finally having the experience and fun of being a crazy college student, I’m just a little too old to pull all-nighters anymore!

The title of the article says it all “Non-traditional students find success at OSU” Open this link and have a good read!

I am sorry for the delay in new postings about my Dream Vacation.   Reaching Lifelong Goals.com was hacked last week!    I ended up with a malware infection that sent everyone to a fictitious website through a redirect error.  These people are down right evil.   The amount of problems floating around the internet by this malicious hacking is huge.   Google the problem and you get millions of hits!  Through the great help from the Go-Daddy support, I was able to remedy the problem and now Reaching Lifelong Goals is back up and running smoothly.    I decided to create a separate category for this series about my vacation to the East Coast.   The entire collection of articles about a History Major’s pilgrimage will be available under umbrella:

http://reaching-lifelong-goals.com/category/history-major-dream-vacation/

Hopefully, I will be able to finish this series up during this next week.   I still have a Major Bucket list item that was checked off, the National Air Space Museum, Udvar Hazy facility in Virginia.   This was another special experience and it deserves another two-part extensive description.   Thank you for your continued support of this series.   I have a lot to share about this experience, and I am happy that there are folks out there who enjoy my chronicles.   Reaching Lifelong Goals.com is back up and running with a vengeance now and I hope the hackers all would just stay away.   Tomorrow, we will visit the sweetest spot on earth Hershey, Pennsylvania.

I have added a few odd photos into this post just for fun.    Each photo has a story, maybe they will inspire a new post in the future…

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum was not on my radar until planning for this trip.  While looking at the preserved sailing ship, USS Constellation in Baltimore harbor, I noticed something that looked like a railroad engine roundhouse.    Zooming in I could see big old steam engines in a parking lot.   This of course was a real find for me.   I have been a Model Railroader since 1970.   My father worked for the Southern Pacific in Oregon as well as the New York Central Railroad during WWII.   Trains, planes and ships (automobiles are cool too, but…) are my historical loves of my entire life, 40 years of it!!    More research led me to the B & O Museum, wow!!   Not being on my original “bucket list”, this museum soon became a priority when we were to visit Baltimore harbor.   This museum was not one that my wife had much interest in, she ensconced herself at a comfy table in the gift shop and gave me permission to experience this one on my own.   I resigned myself to not trying to teach Patty about the history of the early railroads of the US, she had a book and was just fine in the air-conditioned gift shop.   (Weather during the trip was not really oppressive, a couple of 90 degree days, but the humidity was not as bad as we had been warned)   Universally recognized as the birthplace of American railroading, the Museum’s site represents the vision, establishment, development and creation of the first common carrier railroad in the Western Hemisphere. The first 1.5 miles of mainline railroad right of way carries visitors on seasonal train rides to the site where the First Stone of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail Road was laid on July 4, 1828 by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, last living signer of the Declaration of Independence.  (reprinted from the museum website)   The roundhouse is truly a work of late 19th century art, brick and wood and wonderful lines.   Looking up into the ceiling of the restored building is absolutely beautiful.   As I entered the roundhouse I was treated to some of the most significant artifacts of railroad history in the world.   East coast railroads were established in the 1830s and there were wonderful replicas of very early locomotives. Actual restored engines from the 1850s through the 1890s were especially wonderful.   Some one of a kind examples of early railroading were restored to original condition.   I was like a kid in a candy store.    Railroading in the West had different equipment than what was used in the East.   I have studied mostly the Southern Pacific RR and the Northern Pacific Railroad.   It was a treat to see some of the unique types of equipment that I had never been exposed to in person.  The Baltimore and Ohio roundhouse that has been restored was built in 1884.   It is truly a beautiful building. Adjacent to the roundhouse are the Mt. Clare shops that were established in 1828 and are the oldest continually operating railroad shops in the world.   Inside this building the collection includes some of the B & O and C & O locomotives from the modern steam era.  The huge Allegheny Type 2-6-6-6 articulated steam locomotive was the largest.   They were used by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad for hauling huge coal trains (15 mph was all they could muster through the rugged Virginia mountains).   Also a beautiful streamlined passenger locomotive from the 1940s, a C & O  4-6-4 “Hudson” type.   These huge steamers were difficult to photograph in the shop’s close quarters, but just walking through the “forest” of steam locomotives was an experience in itself. The railroad car at left is a gift from the French people to the state of Maryland  from the French National Railways.   The boxcar (in Europe they are “wagons”) was used in the First World War.   The B & O railroad in the 1830s used some very interesting looking passenger cars.   The museum has a replica of one.   (None survive as they were made of wood and were scrapped when they were obsolete)   A small engine from the period would pull 3 or 4 of these “passenger cars”.   There were many other special pieces of railroad history within the grounds of the B & O Railroad Museum.   I tried not to overstay my welcome with my wife waiting for me so I moved a little quicker and moved inside to see the wonderful display of scale models of railroad equipment through history.    These scale models were a real treat as well as I am a scale modeller myself and can appreciate such beauty.   Although my time was short, I did have quite a wonderful experience at this museum.   I was able to see pieces of early railroad history, unique East Coast types of equipment and some really huge steam locomotives.   Before I could leave the museum, I had to walk around the bone yard display of equipment that had not been restored yet.   The collection of old unique diesel engines and steam engines waiting their turns for restoration was a museum in itself.   Of special note was an EMD BL-2 Diesel from the 1950s, something you don’t see on the west coast.   Also the last steam locomotive built in the USA by the Baldwin Locomotive Works was also on display.   This huge steamer for the C & O was a 2-6-6-2 type articulated.  I have the same locomotive, only the small N Scale (1:160) version which is only a few inches long.   This giant really put my hobby into a new light.

This was only part of our day in Baltimore Maryland.   From this museum, we traveled  a few short blocks to the Baltimore Harbor to experience one of my top bucket list items, the sailing ship USS Constellation.   Tomorrow’s post will be specifically on my walking the decks of this floating artifact from the mid 19th century.

The NASM on the National Mall was too important to me for only one blog posting.   Continuing with the “Legend, Memory and Great War in the Air gallery, we have a SPAD XIII that actually saw service in Europe during WWI.   Many of the SPADs on display are ex-training aircraft and did not see combat.   The Smithsonian’s Smith IV was assigned to the 22nd Aero Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Service, which was taking part in the Saint-Mihiel offensive. The aircraft entered combat during this campaign, and by the end of the war six victories had been scored in it by various pilots.   This is significant.  There are still small bullet hole patches on the wings from combat.  The restoration of this aircraft in the 80s retained these battle scars.   I had to move on, as much as I wanted to spend more time with my WWI aircraft, history marches forward. There were some types from WWII that  are not in most Air Museums, of note was the Italian Macchi C.202 fighter.   This one was a treat, built models of them, never seen one in person.  Suspended from the ceiling of the WWII gallery it was in fine company with a Messerschmitt, Spitfire, Zero and Mustang.    The collection of WWII aircraft features some of the more well-known aircraft and they are staples at many air museums around the country.    This is not to say they are “common”, any aircraft from WWII is a significant display.   This museum is kind of sensory overload for a history nut, so I had to focus, focus, focus.   The collection from the Navy was just as enjoyable, with aircraft spanning the periods from the 30s all the way to current jets.   The gallery is set up to resemble a aircraft carrier and it’s interior spaces were used for additional displays.   Important civil aircraft and record breakers are also on display.   Hanging above the main welcome gallery is the Spirit of St. Louis, again a very moving experience for me to behold.  There are two main sections to the NASM, one with aircraft and the other, spacecraft.   I will move on to this side of the museum now and leave the best experience for last.    The artifacts on display from the NASA moon shots was very interesting, from large items like the Saturn V booster engines (extremely huge!!) to space candy, M&Ms that traveled in space as astronaut treats.    Significant artifacts that really hit home with me included John Glenn’s original space suit, Yuri Gagarin’s CCCP spacesuit and the moon suite from Apollo 15 that still had MOON DUST on the boots.   I was reliving my youth by actually seeing the actual items that had traveled into space as I watched on our black and white TV in the 60s.

The Lunar Excursion Module they have on display was actually slated to go into space on Apollo 5, but the success of the LM1 mission cancelled this flight and this spacecraft was used as a training vehicle.   The two astronauts coming down the ladder give the feel of what it was like back in 1969 when Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon.   This event in history is burned into my childhood memories as we watched in awe as the first steps on the moon were broadcast in the grainy, black and white video of the day.

I have been an aviation history buff most of my life.   My recent specialization in early aviation (WWI) has been a big part of my research over the past 20 years.   The goal of seeing the National Air Space Museum has been on my list since I was a child.   For the last 40 years I have dreamed of reaching this lifelong goal.   If it not for my wonderful wife, who seems to be quite invested in my dreams and goals, this dream vacation would never have happened.   Although my primary interest is WWI, walking into the Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age Gallery hit me in a big way.   To think that I was standing before the actual Wright Flyer, the artifact that meant the most to me in this facility was just too  moving for me to keep my composure.   It all just came over me at once, my new life as a Non Traditional College Student, my goal of becoming a Historian, reaching a lifelong goal of being at the NASM and being in front of the actual origin of my passion.  Patty left me on my own, she was enjoying reading the well presented displays and being a supportive wife.   I tried not to be too obvious, but I just lost it.   I stood before the flyer, weeping, my heart bursting from my chest with emotion.   Of all the sights I was enjoying on this vacation, this one was special, very special.

After gathering myself together, I was able to document this aircraft photographically.   The NASM display of the Wright flyer is really spectacular.   The condition of the aircraft has been maintained since  it was presented to the Smithsonian from the Estate of Orville Wright.   It was recovered in 1927  under supervision by Orville Wright and again in 1985.   The original fabric which covered the wings on that day in December 1903 is on display.   The unbleached muslin was not coated with dope to save weight.

Just a piece of white cloth, folded up in a glass case, it does not seem like a big deal…   Looking at things through my new eyes as an Aviation Historian and a History Major gives new meaning to even the most mundane artifacts on display in museums.   Just some old cloth, to an airplane nut, this is like the Shroud of Turin!   My experience at the National Air and Space Museum was the highpoint of my History Major’s Dream Vacation.   I clicked off the #2 item on the Bucket List of places to go before I die.   Not for the faint  of heart, this museum is truly a life changing experience…if you are an aviation fanatic like me.

Tomorrow’s post changes directions, trains and ships, two more of my passions and bucket list items achieved.

It has been quite an interesting first two weeks of Fall Term here at Oregon State University.   I have been very bad about posting to this Non Traditional Student Blog over the Summer break, I will endeavor to remedy this over the next few days.   Oregon State University has a great claim to fame with the collection of Dr. Linus Pauling (1901-1994) Papers.   As part of my Historian’s Craft course this term we were given a tour of the collection today.   We learned about the life of Linus Pauling, the only recipient in history of TWO individual Nobel Prizes and an alumnus of OSU.  To actually hold in my hands the Nobel Peace Prize medal was an experience I will not soon forget.   The “rush” of history came over me as I examined this three-inch medallion worth about $20,000 (lots of gold, it was heavy).   We then were treated to a backroom tour of the collection where we held a letter to Dr. Pauling signed by Albert Einstein, a box of letters from all of the Kennedy’s and his collection of molecular models he used in teaching.   The Oregon State Special Collections also hold the papers of numerous other famous scientists and authors.   A real treat was access to the rare book vault with books dating back to 1470!  These were hand written manuscripts, Guttenburg had not printed his Bible yet!    The holdings also include two 4000 year old clay tablets with early Sumarian writing, Wow!!   Needless to say, I was moved  by this class session deeply.   I have not had to occasion to be brought to tears by a college class session to date as a Non Traditional Student, today was a definite first.  This collection is available for research to everyone.   Even though this tour was special for our class, anyone has access to these artifacts…they only need to come to Corvallis Oregon to view them.   The college course that I am taking is basically, “the history of History”.    It is specifically designed to teach new historians about the profession.   We are focusing on the American Revolution, my professor’s specialty, but the concepts are universal to Historiography.  My next two years in college are all going to be upper division classes such as this.   I am in History Heaven!!   Granted, the reading load for my Eastern Asia History class and this Historian’s Craft class is HUGE!!    I have to keep telling myself, if you didn’t want to do a lot of reading, you should have considered something simple like brain surgery or astrophysics!   I am also into my second year of German.   By taking an entire year of German during the Summer Term,  I have been through the initiation by fire and one term at a time will be a welcome change.

During the Summer Break, my wife and I traveled to the East Coast to visit family.   Of course, this was another major event in my life as I was able to click off many “bucket list” items in my “places to see before I die” goals.   This blog has always been about Reaching Lifelong Goals, and I did achieve a number of them on this trip.   Over the next few blog posts, I will chronicle my History Vacation.   I came back with over 1600 digital images of planes, trains and automobiles that I was able to see.   This was made possible by my WONDERFUL WIFE, who I owe so much of this experience to.   I saw history through my new eyes as a History Major and a future Historian, the experience was grand!!    This photo is of me at the wheel of the USS Constellation, in Baltimore harbor, with tears of the joy of reaching a lifelong goal in my eyes.    Stay tuned…