Burning the Midnight Oil

There have been many events throughout my life that have shaped and defined the person I am today. The most impactful moment of my life transpired when I was pursing my B.S. in Physics & Mathematics at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Like any college year each year presents its onset of obstacles and challenges to overcome. My third year of undergrad was without question the most odious of my four year matriculation. Between four hour labs and courses such as Quantum I, Thermodynamics and Electromagnetic Theory it can be very difficult to maintain a high level of performance academically. This period of my life truly tested my belief in the power of the human spirit to preserve through all hardships and success. The journey I embarked on during that semester was like a transformation, where pressure was applied constantly to test my resolve. What made my third year so different from those years previous was my Electromagnetic Theory professor Dr. Caryle Moore. He was renowned for being the “gatekeeper” of the Physics Department, striking fear and diffidence into all his students. Dr. Moore wasn’t a very gregarious person but rather a reserved individual that demanded the respect of both students and colleagues alike. It was well-known throughout the department amongst students that Dr Moore’s class would take tremendous time and effort to achieve success. I remember the first day I walked through the threshold of the door, I felt an enormous burden immediately on my soul. It was like walking into the twilight zone, where strange symbols and hieroglyphics marked the walls and ground. The lectures were so humdrum that it made it almost impossible to learn the convoluted theories of electro-magnetic. When the class would complain about the complexity of the material, Dr Moore would say “there are two types of knowledge; absolute knowledge and no knowledge at all.” His pedantic and cynical nature made the class extremely unfavorable for