Helping Hands and Feet

by John C. Westervelt

Recently my grandson designed a web page to help market my book "Jesus: A Friend of Mine." I decided I must learn something about the Internet, so I phoned Tulsa Community College. The registrar placed me in "Introduction to the Internet" on two Thursday afternoons.

I was feeling anxious about trying to find the west campus of Tulsa Community College and then sitting in a college classroom for three hours. At 12:30 I arrived in the east parking lot. The first building was marked "Science." I thought this could house computer science. After walking the hall, I determined that the only person in the building was a young woman working in her office. I tapped on the glass and said, "This is my first visit to the west campus. Is this the building for computer classrooms?"

She stood, come out of her office, pulled the door closed, and said, "I’ll walk you over there."

As we moved along a covered walkway toward a large central building, I asked, "What do you teach?"

"Actually, I’m an English teacher. My office is in the science building because that’s where space was available."

Inside the larger building, she asked the woman behind a counter where my class was to meet. She then took me around a large central area filled with computers to a classroom on the far side. I expressed my appreciation to my new friend, and she left.

With time on my hands before class would begin at one o’clock, I went upstairs to find the library and the librarian. Here I found Paula Eggert who was research librarian at Amoco for thirteen years before leaving six years ago with a severance package. We have remained close friends since working together for thirteen years. After looking over the library, I asked Paula for the name of the English teacher with an office in the Science building. She said that she had to be Darby Johnsen.

The next day I was still feeling gratitude for the young woman’s act of kindness. So I called Asbury’s Dr. Dean Van Trease, president of TCC, to let him know about the English teacher on his staff who went out of her way to allay the anxiety of a senior citizen’s first visit to the west campus. Dean thanked me for sharing my pleasant experience, and asked if the class was meeting my needs.

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