There are 300 index cards buried somewhere in the old Jefferson County landfill. These 3 x 5 cards of Supreme Court cases were part of my strategy for doing well in a constitutional law course my senior year at Shepherd University (nee College). It was not just a law course. It was my academic love letter to Dr. Mary Meade Walker.

I arrived at Shepherd in the fall of 1976 with the notion of getting a degree in journalism. I hadn’t been in a classroom since 1972. I graduated high school with a 2.6 GPA and was lucky to have that given my shenanigans. I failed Algebra II, Statistics, and English my sophomore year. It was the year dad was in Vietnam.

The infantry and drill team skills I learned in the Army weren’t readily transferable to civilian life. Less inspiring was my part-time jobs as an unarmed security guard at a new home building site, short order cook, and janitor at a hospital. So, with an eye on a $300 a month GI Bill ticket and a dream I didn’t only enroll, I matriculated with a capital M.

My preparation for college included studying the works of Lao Tzu, Hermann Hesse, and John Prine. In an ongoing science experiment, I measured marijuana intake and outcomes, ranging from nada to higher than 10,000 hippies. I also experienced a mescaline-infused sunrise from the porch of the Presidential Honor Guard porch that still awes me to this day.

After all the paperwork, the trials and tribulations of enrollment, I was a student. I was taking 19 hours, including American Federal Government. I did student stuff. Attended classes. Took notes. Wrote blue book essays, filled in the blanks, and almost God-like determined what was true and what was false. Then came the mid-term grades. I had a D in American Federal Government.

I was a bit anxious to meet with Dr. Walker. I steeled myself in the notion that surely my work deserved a better grade. I opened with not understanding why I had a D in the course. Her response shook me to my core and changed my life. “Mr. Watkins, have you thought of studying.” Game over. I had been outed.

To learn the content, I had to learn how to learn. More importantly, it would have to be designed for maximum retention and understanding. So, I adopted a your ass hasn’t been in school for a while approach. I would read material. I would reread the material with a highlighter in hand to identify the important stuff (dates, eras, concepts, etc.). Finally, I would reread the material just before the test.

I finished the semester with a B. Overall, I had 2-As, 3-Bs, and a C. The latter was from Dr. Cornwell in English. That was the most valuable C I ever received. But that is a story for another time.

With a cum laude in the bag, my senior year I signed up for Constitutional Law with Dr. Mary Meade Walker. I wanted to end where I began, in a classroom with a knowledgeable and challenging professor, particularly the professor who had given me a roadmap for success in college and life. Three hundred notecards were a small price to pay for a solid A to thank her. Our paths would cross over the years. I think she was proud that her former D now A former student was a press secretary/speechwriter for a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from West Virginia and a Democrat.

Dr. Walker was 70 years old when she passed away on January 12, 2009 at City Hospital in Martinsburg. She was the daughter of Joseph Rogers Walker and Mary Austin Walker of Bloomington, Indiana. She attended Indiana University for her BS, MA, and Ph.D. She was a longtime member of the Political Science Department at Shepherd University, including time spent as the department chair.