I was born on a small farm five miles south of Abilene, Kansas. After graduating from high school, I enrolled in geology at Kansas State University which is only fifty miles from Abilene. This made it easier to check on my mother who lived on the farm by herself. My father passed away when I was a fresh- man in high school.

My high school counselor, after reviewing my grades, suggested that I may want to stay on the farm. I guess my grades were somewhat affected by my interest in sports, the fairer sex, and also by the fact that there were chores to be done after school, milking cows, etc. I took my coun- selors suggestion as a challenge, so on to Kansas State I went. My freshman year was difficult since I had to learn what I should have during four years of high school. My grade average rapidly improved after the first year of college. Upon graduation, I went to work for Pan American Petroleum Corporation in south Louisiana where I worked for one year before returning to Kansas State to do graduate work. I was fortunate enough to get a Master’s Degree in ten months with excellent grades.

Upon receiving my Master’s Degree, I returned to Abilene to visit with my high school counselor. I showed him my good grades and Master’s Diploma, thanked him and suggested that he may want to take up farming.

I enrolled in Geology because it was fascinating seeing formation outcrops exposed on the surface and road cuts. A trip or two to Colorado and wondering how those wonderful mountains were formed heightened my interest in Geology. The real clincher, however, was when my older brother and I passed an oil rig on a trip to Wichita, Kansas. He pointed out several cars at the rig location. Among those, mostly older cars, was a new Cadillac. My brother told me that car belonged to a geologist. I decided right then and there that I wanted to be one of those guys. It was only after I graduated from Kansas State that he told me the Cadillac really belonged to the tool pusher.

Paul Strunk – Geologist