Day 374 of 1000
Even with all its warts, godlessness, and liberal ways, Oregon State University is a profoundly better school than Duck U (Univ. of Oregon). Their campus is pretty, they have engineering programs, etc., etc. We were talking about that this morning as the kids got ready for school. They mentioned that even though it is true that NCSU is a profoundly better school than NCSU than UNC in the same way OSU is better than Duck U, NCSU has a little bit of an inferiority complex because UNC has been identified as the “flagship” university of the North Carolina system and is the oldest public university in the country.
Thinking about that made me want to check out which Oregon school was established first. I saw that OSU (1868) was second so I assumed that Duck U was first. But I was wrong. Duck U was a weak THIRD (1876). What is now called Western Oregon University was established as Monmouth University Christian College in 1856. My Finnish grandmother studied there when it was called Oregon Normal School. How cool is that? A lot of my cousins went to school there and our buddy, Miles Nelson is studying there now.
Morning, Ken! I’m thinking of your wife, Lorena, and the comfort it must be to her, that bit about your Finnish grandmother, seeing as how that’s one of the toughest foreign languages to learn and understand! I’d say Lorena’s been doing a great job, eh?
Thanks Jon and I absolutely concur. Lorena speaks great English. We decided early on to speak Spanish at home so the kids would be able to talk with Grandpa Lauro and Grandma Conchita. That made learning English that much harder for Lorena, but she has done a stellar job. I am sure you, better than just about anyone, understand the difficulty of that. We were very proud of her when she passed her English Composition class at college! Now she is writing papers for her other college classes.
Wow. Super and a big congrats to Lorena. That, and understanding the Finnish side of you, and she should get another diploma! Well she already has, in many ways for sure. And, yes, with all the crazy nuances of English, I’ve often been very glad it’s my native tongue. Thanks for the encouragement from both of you and your kids regarding communication in the Language that is and will be eternal.