The Dreher, Suczek Scholarship Award

 

Bob Dylan, The Selfish Gene,

and Shannon Ferguson;

                         Update on the Dreher, Suczek Scholarship

 

Links in a Chain

Buried deep in my collection of LP records, on some obscure liner notes, Bob Dylan observes, “We are all just links in a chain.” He says how important Woodie Guthrie was to him, and how younger, up-and-coming musicians come to him for inspiration. This idea of “links in a chain” stays with me.

I have done Ancestry.com to learn about my lineage. My great grandfather fought at and was wounded at Gettysburg. He was born in 1839 (100 years before I was born) and died in 1901. My grandfather with his Irish protestant wife born in Belfast, settled in Spokane where my father was born. He worked in the insurance industry and married my mother in 1933. She was a talented poet and writer, and an alcoholic in her later years. She committed suicide while dying of cancer. I respected her for that.

Born in 1939, I was an only child. Growing into adulthood, one thing was clear, I did not want children. Then I met Mary McGlynn. People change. Fortunately, we had Katy McGlynn Gilbert. Can’t imagine my life without her. She is the product of two chains: the Gilberts and the McGlynns.

 

The Selfish Gene

Richard Dawkins’ book, The Selfish Gene has had a huge impact on my thinking. Dawkins suggests that the purpose of life is nothing more than the replication of our genes. Who remembers my grandparents? Zero people. Why did they even live? Who cares? So what? Well, they produced my parents who produced me. I then produced my daughter. The genes survived from generation to generation. Dawkins says our bodies and our lives are just the vehicles to support gene reproduction. When our genes are through with us, sometime in our forties or fifties, our bodies deteriorate and we die. Our genes move on. It is almost a predator – prey relationship.

So this business of gene reproduction is the backbone of us being “links in a chain.” The chain is, of course, biological. More, though, it is also social, economic, artistic, intellectual, etc.

As I grew into adulthood, left my family, and discovered what to do with my life, I found people who helped mold me into the “link” I would become. I brought certain genes with me, but also was shaped by social forces along the way.

 

Little Brother

My first therapist, Ib Harris, was huge in this process. I went on to SF State and met professors who continued to mold me into the “link” I would become. Bob Dreher taught me general psychology, but more importantly gave me the boost I never got from my father. Responding to an article I wrote and showed to him, he concluded his very supportive letter with, “…so it goes without saying, I love you very much little brother.”

 

 

 I Needed You

Later, as a graduate student, I met Bob Suczek who taught me clinical psychology.  He also mentored me through the three-year process of writing my PhD dissertation. When it was all done, he sent me a letter evaluating this 400-page monster. As a therapist, and reserved by nature, he did not show a lot of his inner self. But, he ended that evaluation with this sentence that I will never forget, “What you may not have known, Rick, is that I needed you as much as you needed me.”

 

Now in the declining years of my life, I ask myself,  “What did it all mean?” I look back and try to connect the dots of my life. I am grateful beyond words for all these influences in the kind of “link” I became.

 

SF State University

When Amanda Todd from SF State approached me about donating to the university, (today only 30% of their operating expenses comes from the state), I said “I’m listening.” She explained that I could create an “endowed scholarship” in the name of my professors. Thus the “Dreher / Suczek Endowed Scholarship” was born. I took $10,000 out of my IRA to fund it.

 

Shannon and Sofia

In the spring of 2019, I had 15 essays to review from students interested in the scholarship. About five were either so poorly written or were about work in areas I did not care about, for example, “physiological psychology,” or “game theory,” they did not make the cut.  Five essays were visionary and concerned the kind of things I wanted to support. Two from that group were recommended by the faculty committee. Bingo. Thus I met Shannon Ferguson and Sofia Ortiz. (I was sorry to learn that after her first semester, Sofia had to drop out of the program due to family issues. Hopefully, she will be able to return soon.)

 

Shannon’s application included:

        As a child I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Consequently, my interest is in helping people with     neurodevelopmental and mental disorders.  After getting my masters at SF State, I want to get a PhD that will allow me to work in education in the area of Special Ed  at the high school or college level.

I recently asked Shannon for a summary of her first year at SF State. She described some of the highs and lows. She also talked about how her research has become more focused, and there is even a possibility of publication. But, what was most gratifying to me was her final paragraph:

        I again want to thank Rick and SFSU for choosing me as the recipient of the Dreher and Suczek Memorial Scholarship. Both Dr. Dreher  and Dr. Suczek inspired Rick in the field of humanistic psychology, which is an important perspective that focuses on holistic approaches  to studying the human experience. My interests in autism and disability awareness has garnered me an understanding that we must see individuals as  whole beings deserving of respect, and all individuals are part of a spectrum of human experiences. With the messages of  Dr. Dreher and Dr. Suczek transmitted to  me through Rick, I hope to keep that perspective with me during my research and life pursuits.

 

Golden Gate Bridge Speech 

In my November 25, 2019 blog, I described a gala SF State dinner honoring the scholarship students and the donors. Shannon attended. Afterwards, I gave her a ride to the Golden Gate Bridge where she catches a bus to Petaluma where she lives. Just before she got out of the car, I gave her a little speech – right from the heart. This is what the whole thing has been about:

   

 

Shannon, I hope you will remember this night. Please imagine your professional life, 30 years from now. Most likely you  will have earned a PhD and will be doing research, and maybe teaching. I hope you will think back to this evening and the professors you never met, but whose scholarship helped you get through your graduate studies. You will be of help to many young students. You will be an inspiration to those students. Their futures will be, to some extent, shaped by you, and by those wonderful professors, Dr. Robert Dreher and Dr. Robert Suczek, through me and this scholarship. 

Shannon, you will make a huge difference to students not yet born.

 

We are all just links in a chain. Let ‘er Rip!

 

Footnote: If you have mentors who helped shape who you became, stay in touch with them. Take them to lunch. It will mean the world to them. One of my greatest pains is that I failed to connect with my mentors in their final years.

 

The $100 Cheese Omelet

 

Talk of Broadway

This is one of my favorite Redwood City restaurants. They have been closed for about five weeks. The owner, John Lee, told me across his three restaurants, about 30 people have been laid off. He is keeping ToB open for “to go” orders only.

This is a restaurant of such warmth and quality (though not fancy) that it attracts a wide range of customers: the suits from the city and county offices; the iron workers; the 30-something software engineers, and the retired people like me. I’ve always thought of it as a kind of church.

Today I decided to take advantage of their “to go” orders to help support them. I gave them $100 for my omelet and hash browns. It’s not much, but it helps – and it made me feel good.

My Barber

I’m doing other things like that across the board. I gave my barber $100 as she closed her shop. I said, “Evette, this is for three haircuts on the other side of this mess.”

 

 

 

Our Cleaning Lady

Fearing people in our home who could unknowingly be carrying the virus, we told our cleaning lady, Vilma, not to come. She about burst into tears. All her customers were saying the same thing. She perked up, though when we told her we would continue to pay her until this is over. Now I do the laundry and change the sheets. Good thing my mother taught me how fold the corners of sheets.

The other day Mary tipped our postwoman $20.

The Bach

The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay is, far and away, the best jazz venue I have ever been to. When the owner, Barbara Riching, had to cancel some of the spring programs, we did not ask for a refund, but made it a donation. The Bach runs on a very thin budget. I fear this downturn could kill them. Mary and I donated $500 – again, not much, but it helps and makes us feel like we are doing something.

 

 

The Brubeck Brothers  at The Bach

 

What Needs to Change

Let’s stop banging pans and calling front line workers “Heroes.”

They are not heroes, they are victims. They are paid minimum wage, often have no sick leave or healthcare, and certainly no savings or retirement. How would you like to be that single mom living in a two-bedroom apartment with three children under ten going to your minimum wage job scrubbing floors at the local hospital, putting yourself and your kids at risk. Does that make you a “hero?” Fuck no.

How about we pay these folks a decent wage (way more than a “minimum” wage)? Oh, oh, that means less for the people at the top. Isn’t that the dreaded, “wealth redistribution?” Actually, yes. You see these “heroes” would trade places with us in a heartbeat. Let’s at least make their lives a little more bearable.

 

On the Lighter Side…

April 12, 2020

Mama waits patiently

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This nest is tiny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 24, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 28, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 3, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 4, 2020

Could leave the nest tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

5 thoughts on “The Dreher, Suczek Scholarship Award

  1. Susan Page says:

    The scholarship story is beautiful, Rick. Also the $100 omelet. Yes, we all have to help pay for laid off workers and stores that had to close. Every little bit helps.

    I love the bird photos. We have a family of barn swallows who return every year to the same light fixture in our entry way. The mama raises two families each season. Even though they are but ten feet away, we keep binoculars nearby, so we have an intimate relationship with them, watch their progress daily, and several times have been there to witness the baby’s first flight. The whole thing is a thrill. Right now, she is sitting on her eggs.

  2. Lil Schaller says:

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful stories, Rick. Yes, how important it is to look back at what has shaped us as individuals, and I certainly have several that come to mind. But the one that stands out the most is Don. Although having come from a dysfunctional family himself, he truly knew how to get the most out of life and shared so much wisdom and understanding; he made me feel better self-worth than my own family ever had. Love that guy for all he gave to me, and certainly for giving me you and Mary in my life too!

  3. Mary Warren says:

    This story is inspiring. Thinking of and thanking those who have influenced us. Supporting those who serve us. Making right the staggering inequities that have become more visible. Big ideas. Important ideas. Thanks, Rick.

  4. Michael Joyce says:

    Your scholarship is a fine reflection of who you have become in this 80-year process and your appreciation that there is a quality beyond the physical worth replicating through our action: caring.

    Where does caring come from?

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