Move to Washington State University

     I had requested from the administrators of seminaries and institutes of religion a leave-of-absence, without pay, to enroll in graduate school at the BYU with the intention of returning to the Seminary system when I had finished.  We would be on a slim budget but with some income from the farm, the GI bill and a scholarship, we thought we could make it.

     We made a down payment on and were living in a small two-bedroom house at 64 West 750 North in Orem.

     We were surprised and pleased that Brother Theodore Tuttle, one of the assistant administrators of seminaries and institutes of religion asked if I would be willing to teach two sections of religion classes at the BYU.  I accepted and taught a section of Church History and also a section of LDS Doctrine and Philosophy.  The stipend they paid me teaching part-time also helped with expenses.  I had the privilege of being provided an office in the same area as Reid Bankhead, an effective professor of New Testament, and Dr. Sidney B. Sperry, a legendary scholar in several areas.  They treated me with more respect and collegiality than I deserved.

     I had decided to study in the area of Educational Counseling, Personnel and Guidance.  My thought was that since I planned to be working with students in the religious educational area that knowing more about meeting more effectively with students would be helpful.  The courses were stimulating and before the end of the academic year, with faculty suggestion, arrangements were made for me to receive a fellowship and continue my studies the following year at Cornell University in New York.

    Things changed when William E. Berrett, the administrator of Seminaries and Institutes, asked if I would consider changing our plans and go to Washington State University in Pullman Washington.  I would replace Brother Dale Tingey who was finishing his doctoral program.  I would be the Director of the Institute of Religion, teach early-morning seminary and, on a part-time basis and continue with my graduate studies.  At the time, I had never even heard of WSU and didn’t know if they even had a reputable program in the counseling area.

     Dad and Mom Christensen agreed to go with us to check out WSU and their program.  So, we traveled to Pullman, Washington. We learned that they did have a program in my area of Counseling Psychology.  I accepted the offer to change and go to WSU.  The Dean of Education indicated that if I could produce a paper or some acceptable evidence of writing at the graduate level, I could by-pass a master’s degree and go directly on to the PhD.  That sounded good to me and so it worked out that way.

     After working on the farm during the summer of 1957, we hooked on to a 6’X4’ little trailer with our Rambler station wagon.  The trailer belonged to my sister and brother-in-law, Coy and John Manning.  We loaded it to the gills and again, we took off without any knowledge of where we would be able to live.  The University housing director had said there were no married student housing apartments available on campus.

     One of the seminary students, Effie Felsted, had learned that we were coming to Pullman.  She called during the summer and let us know that they would be happy to host us when we arrived until we found housing.

     When we arrived in Pullman, Stephen, who was less than a year old, was not feeling well.  All of us were tired from the trip and we were grateful to be welcomed by the Felsted family that first night.  They were most hospitable.  The next day, upon calling the University housing office, we learned that, fortunately, an unexpected vacancy had occurred and we would be able to move into a two-bedroom married student apartment as soon as we desired.  As I recall, the address was 4-F East Fairway Drive.  The unfurnished apartments were remodeled army barracks from World War II.  Not particularly spacious or attractive but at least a roof over our heads.  We were grateful.  They even provided some community vegetable garden space which we took advantage of and raised some choice produce all three years we were there. Our peas particularly grew well. We once took a picture of the three kids in the peas and you could hardly see them!

     I worked my hardest with the CES program in Pullman. I tried to find all the members that were hiding in the bushes and tried to get them to join us. It was a wonderful time with all the young people.