For years, Professor [W. Page] Pitt
headed the Department of Journalism
at Marshall University.
Although he was offered salaries
of two to three times what he made
as a college professor,
Pitt’s first love was teaching journalism.
Pitt’s success is enviable because
of the record he has made,
but what is most remarkable
about Professor Pitt
is that he accomplished
all of this practically blind.
When he was only five years old,
he lost 97 percent of his eyesight.
Though almost blind... he played
baseball, first base, catching a
low ball by the sound of it
whistling through the grass.
He played football
as a second-string tackle.
He worked his way through college
and graduate school....
When he became a professor,
Page Pitt earned the reputation
of being a “slave driver.”
But he also earned the reputation of
being a top-notch professor.
They did not come any better than Pitt.
One day, a somewhat thoughtless student
asked the professor which he would consider
the worst handicap: blindness or deafness,
or no arms and legs, or what?
There was a smoldering, ominous quiet...
then Page exploded.
“None of those things!
Lethargy, irresponsibility, lack of ambition,
or desire: They are the real handicaps.
If I do not teach you anything but
to want to do something with your lives,
this course will be a magnificent success!”
No one could challenge Pitt.
Constantly he would growl at his students,
“You’re not here to learn mediocrities,
you’re here to learn to excel.”
SOURCE:
Heroes
Harold J. Sala
Promise Press
