Everything Is Connected

By Paul Sterrett

I came to Heidelberg University in 1969. In my first English class, Professor Richard Blessing helped us through Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience. Suddenly, those two books became touchstones ever-present in my life.

I was depressed during my second year. I walked into the home of Professor Allan McKenzie, who quietly listened to my concerns and directed me to take an Urban Studies semester in Cleveland, Ohio. There, I got my taste of inner-city living, as well as my 15 seconds of fame swimming the Cuyahoga River on Earth Day 1971.

Professor Fred Lemke introduced me to the magic of Shakespeare. Several years after I graduated, he sent me an eight-page letter outlining his response to a question of mine about Macbeth.

In Lit and Fine Arts, I obtained a copy of a 600-page book (China, A Short Cultural History by C. P. Fitzgerald) which has continued to be consumed by me in small bites over the years. My oldest daughter proved its relevance by spending six years teaching English teachers at a university in Lanzhou, China.

There was always music at the 'Berg. I sang in the Concert Choir for the intimidating and incomparable Ferris Ohl. I also played the violin in the annual Messiah production.

Did I mention I met my spouse here? Marguerite "Gretchen" Breitfeld would have had several stories to share, but she passed away in 2017.

Still, Heidelberg gave me so much more than I can list here. Professor Howard Hintz introduced me to the joys of birdwatching. In the '70s, there was a surge of environmentalism at Heidelberg and throughout the country. Political involvement engulfed our campus, epitomized by many of us joining Pete Seeger and thousands of others in the Vietnam War protest march in Washington, D.C., during the fall of 1969. We also took part in the student strike after the Kent State shootings.

Heidelberg's foundation is to foster a curiosity in its students which never dims. That is why I joined the Peace Corps in 2019 and spent a year in Namibia. That is why I signed up again and left for Kenya in October 2022. It is the subtlest, deepest lesson Heidelberg gave me: Never stop learning.

Everything is connected. In June of 2000, I joined three guys in sailing a 42-foot cutter sailboat from Hawaii to Kodiak, Alaska. We traveled the same waters my father had patrolled in the Navy more than 50 years before in WWII. Life is a connection—in this case, father to son. But there is also a connection, brother to brother. I have contributed to the Sterrett Family Scholarship for First Generation Students created by my older brother, Stephen, Heidelberg Class of 1970.

There is a connection between generations. That connection is a web that binds the present, the past and, most importantly, the future. Life has many seasons. Our present time is one in which our generation gives back to enable those folks in their spring season—those potential Heidelberg students—to have the same opportunities that blessed our class of 1973. This circle of life needs to remain unbroken. I hope you will give thoughtful consideration to help Heidelberg continue its mission.

You can join Paul in supporting the future of Heidelberg. Contact Doug Kellar at 419-448-2888 or dkellar@heidelberg.edu to explore your options.