African-American alumnus of North Texas State University. Memories of childhood in West Dallas, Texas; experience of attending all-black schools and perceptions of how well that education prepared him for NTSU; decision to enter North Texas in Fall 1961 with intention to major in Commercial Art; decision to change major to Biology, with an eye toward a career in medical illustration; experience boarding with African-American families in “Shack Town”; value of personal stubbornness in the face of racial discrimination; experience of being the only African-American student in every one of his classes at North Texas; belief that some instructors at North Texas did treat blacks fairly, and they knew which fellow instructors would and would not treat blacks fairly; 1966 graduation with B.A. in Biology; decision to pursue M.S. in Microbiology at North Texas, studies with Dr. Gerard “Roland” Vela, and graduation after only one year; decision to enter University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio; medical residency in ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.; work in Shiraz, Iran, and comparison of his isolated life there with social isolation at NTSU; belief that his experience at North Texas was difficult but ultimately a positive one.