Dr Van Allen

After high school I went to the University of Iowa.  In that first semester took a freshman course in Astronomy.  It was taught by a man named Van Allen.  I was several weeks into the course before I realized that was THE Van Allen.  Of the astronomical body known as The Van Allen Belt in our solar system.

Now, as a heavy science fiction reader at the time I thought I would love this class.  And I did!!  But I loved it for all the wrong reasons.  See, as a city girl from a huge metropolis like Los Angeles, I was NOT very familiar with the stars in my night sky.  (having met stars growing up! Movie Stars, lol)  And worse, I certainly wasn’t used to seeing the HUGE spectrum of stars in the night sky of Iowa City!

So night after night I would try to see the patterns in the sky.  And then try to see the patterns on a star chart.  And well, needless to say I earned my first “F” by the end of the semester.  For several reasons, but NOT being able to find a star on a map being the primary one!

What I should have done was drop the class.  But I was unfamiliar with the system enough to see that as a clear option. And damn if Professor Van Allen wasn’t the most hilarious lecturer!  I loved going to his class.  Could barely understand him with his accent, and what he was teaching was going completely over my head… but I just fell in love with his style.  And he had a lot of it.

I also met, in the back of that lecture hall, my first Iowan conquest.  Tall, lean, blond and adorable.  Also, bad in bed and dumb as a post, but, sadly, with gregarious swimmers which knocked me up.  Apparently the move to Iowa threw off my, previously quite reliable, rhythm method of birth control.

So needless to say I was dealing with a lot and enjoyed listening to something rare.  A truly entertaining college lecture.  Something that I’ve never had repeated since! lol

Then again, what did I know… I was an 18 year old!

 

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