About Five Moments

By Joe Hammons

I was at the door of the abode which housed my mother and myself for the princely sum of $100 a month. I was not happy at age 28 even though I had been honorably discharged from military service with an Army Commendation Medal and was the holder of a BA in Economics. I had no job prospects.
As I closed the door, I thought of the time not too long ago that I had picked up a throw away newspaper, for no reason, and found an article telling about a teacher training program starting in East Los Angeles, administrated by LA City Schools and UCLA. I applied for the program and later went to an interview. I didn’t speak Spanish and I had not taken any education classes in college. I waited several days for the phone call. It didn’t come.
So now I was walking to my car with the intention of visiting my old college to see if I could get into their education program. I would have to take lots of classes and I was low on money. I was at the depth of pessimism.
As I opened the door of my car about five Moments after I left the house, I could barely hear the phone ring. I went back into the house. Someone had dropped out of the program. Are you still interested?
I entered the Urban Teacher Corps in East Los Angeles which combined UCLA coursework and student teaching for one year leading to a teaching credential with $75 a week.
A couple of weeks later, a new member was introduced to us. She was looking for a roommate. I wanted to stand up but didn’t. Her brother had been killed in a hiking accident and she was allowed to transfer from a Teacher Corps program in Florida to our Urban Teacher Corps program to be closer to her family.
In a year I was gainfully employed as a teacher and later happily married to the young lady who had needed a roommate. We spent a two year honeymoon in West Africa as Peace Corps Volunteers.

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