John, your narrative once again allowed me to close my eyes and see the cloud of dust trailing  a pick-up down a West Texas dirt road. With your prose those not fortunate enough to experience the fragrance of freshly turned soil or new mown hay will recognize how difficult it is to describe  such an experience.

As an employer of hundreds of students over 37 years I readily relate to your need to work parttime and in  the process you gained an experience not available in the classroom! Thanks, John for being a part of my memories!

Fewer and fewer young folks will have the opportunity to benefit from your rural experiences growing up on the Rolling Plains of Texas, a region less than 200 years ago inhabited by Native Americans and you found the arrowheads to prove it!

John, your success in marketing and publishing supports our belief to hire parttime students based more on their need to work than the particular college curriculum. By His Own Blood makes us look pretty smart putting you on the team!

That plant breeding experience you gained while working your way through Texas Tech evolved into the improvement of a food, feed, and fuel crop, sorghum, grown under the DEKALB logo on as many as ten milllion acres worldwide, annually. Continued improvement of the crop offers hope for the next Green Revolution in Africa where the poorest of the poor can overcome malnutrition.