Finding Tom by Simeon Harrar Read Free Book Online

semester at school. And, for all that is sacred, do spend some time on improving your grammar and punctuation. I have known first grade students with better penmanship and spelling than you have, dear boy. Please let me know once you have sent in your application so I will know when I can be expecting to hear from the university on your behalf.
    Sincerely,
    Dr. James Emory
    As he requested, I mailed away my application and waited impatiently to see if Dr. Emory would be able to work his magic. It was a number of weeks before I heard back from the university on official letterhead.
    Dear Mr. Weston:
    Thank you for your application to Locklear University. Based on the merits of your previous academic achievements, we do not see fit to accept you into our institution, but based on the merits of Dr. Emory’s adamant lobbying on your behalf, we are willing to make a special concession in your case. You will be admitted to university on academic probation, and your ability to continue on at Locklear will be based completely on your academic achievement in your first semester. We are requiring you to maintain a B average in all of your classes. Below you will find a list of important dates and information that you will find helpful as you prepare for university.
    Sincerely,
    Dr. Groves
    Dean of Students
    I held the paper in my hand, spellbound. I could hardly believe what I’d just read. Somehow, Dr. Emory had pulled it off. I was going to be going to Locklear University, the most prestigious university in the region! I immediately ran to the telephone to call Dr. Emory.
    “Dr. Emory, please,” I almost yelled with excitement.
    “Just a second,” a voice replied.
    “Dr. Emory here. Who is this?”
    “Dr. Emory, it’s Tom. I’ve been accepted! You must have pulled quite a few strings. I don’t know what to say.”
    “Ha-ha! Yes, my boy, I certainly did. It helps that the dean and I were schoolboys together. While we rarely see eye to eye on anything, I persuaded him to see things my way on this one. Now please don’t waste my efforts.”
    “You know I won’t, sir,” I promised. “I will be the most studious pupil ever to walk through the great arch at Locklear Universi—”
    He cut me off. “Now, now, Tom, don’t go saying things we both know to be untrue. Anyway, there are far too many priggish and overly devoted automatons who walk through that arch every semester and do nothing but study and yet know nothing of the real world and its workings. You need not be one of them. Just work hard and do what needs to be done. You will want to begin considering your major. It will be helpful for you as you start to prepare your class schedule.”
    “Thank you, sir. I will most assuredly be a diligent student,” I guaranteed him. “I must be honest with you now, though, that I have no clue what I should pursue for a major.”
    “Well, if that is the case, then you and I have much to discuss,” he informed me. “I have found that much of the merit of an education is in the teacher more so than in the subject being taught. Since I am well acquainted with the entire staff, I would recommend that you steer away from journalism and take literary criticism. You will have plenty of opportunity to write for your courses, and you already have the makings of a good writer. You need to expand your knowledge of other writers and glean wisdom from their works. Then and only then will you be able to hone your skills. But we can discuss these things more in depth when you arrive in the fall.”
    “Thank you, sir,” I replied gratefully. “I am looking forward to that. Thank you again for your help.”
    “You are very welcome. Make nothing of it. Just help disprove Dr. Grove’s original opinion that there is no way someone with your anemic academic record can ever survive at Locklear. I look forward to seeing him eat his words. Oh yes, that will be a brilliant moment. The two of us have a long, cantankerous history, as I