At the time I attended Ashland it was still Ashland College. The Masters in Business Administration was a fairly new addition to the program availability. By May of 1984, I had already been teaching Business at the Mansfield Business College in Mansfield (Now defunct) for four years. While I already possessed a Master in International Affairs with an African Specialty degree from Ohio University, I thought it might be useful to add the M.B.A. to further my credentials for the classes I was already teaching. Right before I started attending, my father died of a heart attack. But before his fatal second heart attack, he insisted that I do the program and not wait. I followed his advice and, while teaching 32 hours a week, was able to attend the weekend classes. The worst moment was when I was supposed to defend the cigarette manufacturers in a midterm exam question. My father died as a direct result of smoking and drinking too much. I survived the test and the moment. The funniest moment was when I took what was designed to be the initial class of the program in my final semester. They almost disallowed my course selection. However, I had been teaching basic management for six years by then. So I figured saving the easiest class for last made sense. Of course, I aced the class without much effort. Professor Shockney was impressed that I had nearly every assignment done before midterms! My goal in obtaining the M.B.A. was not normal in wanting a career in business, but instead to enhance my credentials. So, there was no high-powered, high-salary job resultant from the program. However, it was a good challenge. I now urge my daughter to pursue her nursing degrees here in Chattanooga, despite having to work 32 hours a week. She can take heart that it can be achieved. Recently, I stopped by and visited the campus while on vacation, but everything, including the bookstore, was closed by the time my wife and I arrived. Nonetheless, it was still nice to see the place after 33 years.
