"My Son-The Engineer"

By the time the program started and the speeches were finished, Gene's father was asleep.  Then the awards were distributed and the degrees given to the graduating class.  The first award went to Gene for being part of a select group of students known as the "Honors Option."  Later he received the award for being the outstanding Civil Engineer with the best standing academically and in general, such as sports, activities, etc.  Then he received an award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for being the Civil Engineering student with the most promise for a successful professional life in engineering.  Then the final event of the evening was the distribution of the 200 degrees, and Gene was the recipient of a B.S. in C.E. (Bachelor Science in Civil Engineering with a major field of Structural Engineering).  He received many congratulations from both the teachers and his fellow students.  To his surprise, his father had a word of congratulation.  His father had never commended Gene for anything that he had done.  That night he turned to Grandfather Dotter and said, "Gene was the best of all.  He got three prizes and that is more than anyone else."

            N.C.E. required all graduates to get a portrait so it could be included in the class book.  Gene did not like to have his picture taken.  His experience was that his fellow students usually laughed and made some humorous remark like the favorite remark of Howard Broadman who would say, "Well shaped head!"  But it had to be done.  He went to one of the major department stores in Newark.  The lady taking the portrait was amused when Gene asked if it would make his friends laugh.  She replied, "You are no moving picture star, but you will do."

            A young lady had entered Gene's life. She was Muriel, the girl that Gene's friend, Fritz, had fallen in love with.  But she had rejected Fritz's advances and he had faded out of her life.  The Civil Engineering students had arranged a graduation party at a hotel.  He had to take a girl so he asked Muriel to go.  To his surprise, she gladly accepted.  When they appeared at the party, she was the cynosure of all eyes.  She was very attractive and possessed a great personality; in fact, some of his fellow students remarked, "How in the world did a backward guy like you ever find a stunning girl like this?"

            It looked as if Gene was going to have some close feminine fellowship in his life.  But Gene was not ready for this.  He could not handle this type of experience.  So a few days later, he said good-bye to only his parents and sister, boarded a bus for Pittsburgh, and left the girl and everyone else there at home, to wonder where he had gone.