I met Werner Heim when I was a freshman at Colorado College during the 1974--75 academic school year. I was a high level competitive figure skater-ice dancer then, training at the old Broadmoor World Arena in the middle of the night, from 11 pm to 4 am, but somehow I was able to also be a full-time Colorado College student.
CC required three science classes to graduate, so I chose Human Heredity to fulfill one of those science requirements, taught by Professor Heim.
For those who don't understand the Block Plan at CC, courses are taken one at a time, in an intense three and a half week format. Most classes run from 9 am to noon five days a week, and a week's worth of material is covered each day. There is a huge amount of studying and homework involved.
Training as an elite figure skater six days a week in the middle of the night and keeping up with the intense academic load at Colorado College was very difficult for me, but somehow I managed. It seemed that I was always studying or skating and I barely passed most courses, but I was determined to be successful at CC and graduate in four years.
Anyway, Professor Heim's Human Heredity class was very difficult for me, but I tried as hard as I could. I knew I was having trouble with the class, but I wanted to complete it successfully so very much and of course pass the class to fulfill one of my science requirements.
At a mid-Block exam, all our student scores were posted on the door in front of Professor Heim's office next to our student identification numbers.
I anxiously went to his office to look up my score, and to my dismay, all the students' scores were listed and then there was a line at the bottom that divided the passing scores from the failing scores. Next to my student number was a "more than failing" score!
I was crushed, so I went directly to see Werner Heim after class the next day.
"I am trying so, so hard, but I just can't do this," I told Professor Heim. "And....I must pass this class."
I still remember the look on his face. Instead of telling me to just study harder, which another professor at the college had told me, he wanted to help.
"I will tutor you every day and make sure you pass," was Professor Heim's reply. "You can do this."
So, every day during the rest of the Block, every afternoon, Professor Werner Heim tutored Jo Ann Schneider in Human Heredity and I passed the class!
His time with me changed my life. I realized I could "do science." I realized that when someone needs help that asking is worth it. I have told this story many times to family and friends since I graduated from CC in 1978.
Forty years later, every time I saw Werner Heim at Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs I would remind him of this story. He did not remember since he probably helped many Colorado College students in his years at the college, but liked hearing the story.
Thank you Werner Heim for helping shape my life and thank you getting me through my Human Heredity class! You probably touched hundreds of lives. Rest in peace. I will never forget you.
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