SF Campus on Van Ness

After failing to secure a promotion to a Champus and Info Desk positions at LAMC, it was evident that I might be stuck as a ward secretary forever.  It was time for a change.  I decided to familiarize myself with the businesses along Van Ness Avenue in the city on my day off.  Heald College was a standout vocational school that looked to be promising as something to do with my time when not working.  Granted it would be that time between work and turning in for the night, but it would give me a chance to do something other than clerking when I completed my studies.  Heald wasn't new to me as I received a calendar during a college recruitment event at Lowell which I still have to this day.

The recruiting staff welcomed me with open arms and went over what they had to offer.  Heald at the time was known for two types of schools....their Business School and their Engineering School.  Not wanting to follow in my father's footsteps, it must have been an unconscious decision when Architectural Structural Drafting was chosen, a curriculum offered by the Engineering School.

Vocational schools are nothing like universities or community colleges, especially when the classes are held at night.  My studies ran from 6pm to 11pm Monday through Thursday.  I was able to find parking after work in the alley right next to the school. I usually sat in my car as the space had a one hour limit which ended at 6pm.  I was usually there around 4:30pm (got off work at 4pm).  It was a time when I could nap or do homework.

Classes were manageable and the instruction was easy to understand.  Having taken drafting at Aptos and playing around with floorplan design since then gave me a stronger desire to learn this new craft...so much so that the Dean of the Evening School wrote in my recommendation letter....

"Mr. Ng has been in the top 5% of his class for the past 7 quarters of his matriculation." and that "His GPA is close to an "A" average (4.0) through his entire curriculum." 

I was really into each class and the homework assignments.  Perhaps the incentive was that I was paying for the classes with earnings from my job. The only objectionable class assignment that was given was having to print an entire page of text by the next instruction day by hand, neat enough to be used in plans.  The page had to be filled in completely, single space.  We could forego this exercise once the instructor deemed the work passable.

Instruction at Heald was from June 1979 to April 1981.  I was able to skip the first quarter due to my entrance assessment test.  I graduated off the stage and received my diploma on April 8th.  Both mom and dad attended the ceremony which was held at the Jack Tar Hotel in the California Room.