THE TUTOR

THE TUTOR 

I was not prepared for college. What you say…you went to the premier high school in Boston, Boston Latin and you were not prepared. Let me qualify my statement. Had I gone to Harvard or Yale or any of the liberal arts colleges I would have been more than prepared. The curriculum at Boston Latin in the 1950’s was very liberal arts. I studied German, French, Latin, English Literature Ancient History, Current History etc. What I didn’t study was any of the sciences.

At the time of my graduation From Latin in 1952 I had to make a choice as to what college I would attend. Most of my classmates were heading to Harvard because that is where their fathers and grandfathers went after graduating. Coming from humble parents in South Boston I knew I wouldn’t fit in. Luckily at this time the country was facing a major shortage of engineers. How was I going to get in an engineering school with such a poor background in the sciences.

At this critical moment in my decision making process I became aware of a situation that was going to change my life forever. The president of M.I.T., Mr. James R. Killian, was unhappy that his graduates were super Scientists and Engineers but not grounded in the humanities…graduates that today we would  call ”geeks.”He was going to change that and what better way than to invite high school graduates like us Latin scholars that had a liberal arts background. And to make it even easier he would grant the top 15 percent of the Graduating Class at Latin special status. Since I was in that group I applied and got in.

Several of my classmates also joined me. The first two years were brutal. The freshman class had students from two of the foremost Science based High Schools in NYC…the Brooklyn Technical High School and the Bronx School of Science. Their curriculum was just the opposite of ours… four years of pure science studies. Unfortunately 50 percent of my fellow Latin classmates dropped out after the second year. How did I survive?

I was fortunate to have my cousin George, really I consider him my brother since we lived in the same household together for 30 plus years, to tutor me. He had already graduated from Tufts University with an Electrical Engineering degree. There is no question I would not have survived without that tutoring. I graduated from M.I.T. with a Bachelor of Science degree In Civil Engineering and later a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from Northeastern University. None of this could have happened without my Tutor. I will forever be in debt to my brother George.