On Struggle and Greatness
Professor Joe Albert loves helping people tell their stories. And whose story doesn’t include some struggle and pain? Here, he talks about the way we grow stronger when we face life’s challenges.
A field of dreams and a touch of class
Donn Thompson played on the 1947 baseball team that was Gonzaga’s first in 15 years, due largely to the Depression and World War II. The field was makeshift and a shower absent for this group of players. The 2015 Zags invited Donn back to Patterson Baseball Complex, and even more amazing to Thompson than this fabulous baseball stadium, dugout and clubhouse was the class and positive approach to life that these young men brought to the cause. “It was better than Christmas,” Donn said as he and wife Dude walked off the field. Read Donn’s reflections on yesteryear, and his impressions of baseball today, and learn the lessons Coach Mark Machtolf and his players took away from the visit.
Do You Believe in Zags?
Despite shifts in higher education trends, several important things have not changed. The world still needs well-educated, intelligent, creative, ethical and hard-working women and men who feel a sense of responsibility to positively impact their communities.