Dr Ward

 I used to be a downright friendly fellow at least that's what doctor Phillips said when the head of the psych Department was telling me that maybe I should steer away from experimental psychology and focus on Counseling psychology. Basically saying that there's no way I could survive a Masters or even a doctoral program and have to shoulder the burden of the mathematics required for such a course of study, which again I think is kind of ridiculous because there isn't that much mathematics into the practice unless of course you're doing pure research then of course you need experimental and all the other math based psychologies. And probably in all reality maybe the counseling side needs it too but I guess I'm still in denial. As you may know mathematics is not one of my strong points even though I really wish it were. Somewhere along the line I may have spoken about the fact that it took me three years to finally pass out of my experimental psych program which I needed to graduate with a degree in psychology. My math professor, Fritz Ward was a pretty great Professor but I just couldn't score well enough on tests because I know it was test anxiety to get out of his classes. I finally took one of his class that I needed- the experimental class- interested in his office every single day getting the homework done the right way after totally suffering the night before trying to do the exercises. I totally knew the concept but I just couldn't produce the work under stress and pressure. Fritz finally passed the out of the course with a C because he knew I knew the material front and back. I've always appreciated that professor and counted him as one of the best that I had in my academic career.

Actually I think with all the exposure to the math in my college career I came away with a deep appreciation, respect and even love for the course of study many equate only second to Dental work. For a small shiny moment I was able to enter Dr Ward's mathemagic land and could almost see the same visions that he saw when he was doing math in the air above my desk moving his hands as if they were pens or pencils on some invisible notebook or tablet. He spoke to the numbers quite literally. I had been with him long enough not to see this as weird anymore but understanding that these mathematical beings were real to him and he was communicating with them. Dr Ward had the reputation of being one of the most difficult instructors on campus and I believe that and I still to this day don't understand why he slowed his Jets up long enough to instill with me a love for higher math and all it was capable of. I wish I was a math person and I do the magical things they do. I have a basic understanding of these Wizards but still I'm just a Mickey Mouse with a dunce cap sweeping at the floors in the math department