lilt's kind of neat looking out at the faces in the classroom and seeing your own son:' DR. KEITH SCHRAMM, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE PEOPLE - 118 Parents share in students/lives n the past, Dr. Keith Schramm, associate professor of physical science, used. a story about how his two sons shared their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures as an analogy about polar covalent bonding. However, when his youngest son, freshman Erik Schramm, joined his chemistry dass in the fall 2001 semester, Schramm knew he would have to be careful not to embarrass his son. " At the beginning of the semester, I was very careful about guarding his anonymity," Keith said. "Whenever T read through the attendance list, I would say, 'John Smith, Erik: and continue without saying his last name." When his classmates figured out the connection, Erik said many of them were convinced that he would know more about the class than they did and asked him for help on difficult questions. "Just because my dad was the teacher didn't mean I knew all the answers," Erik said. However, Erik said it was easier to ask his father for help than it would be asking some professors, and he understood his dad's teaching style since the two knew each other so well. "Sometimes you just understand certain teachers better because you think along the same lines they do:' Erik said. Overall, Erik said he enjoyed being in his father's class and he didn't mind other students asking him questions or having his father tell stories about him and his family. Keith said having his son in class was fun. "/t's kind of neat looking out at the faces in the classroom and seeing your own son," he said. Sometimes a family connection turned out to be a good way to make friends, according to freshman Erica Seawel, the daughter of Morris SeaweI, assistant director of admissions, and Brenda Seawel, administrative assistant in the communications department. Erica said having people recognize her because of her parents was positive sometimes, especially during the induction process when she joined Zeta Rho social club, which her mom sponsored. "It's really cool to have that connection with someone you really don't know," she said. Because of her parents' personalities, Erica said it did not surprise her when her mom would jokingly bump into other students with her shopping cart at Wal-Mart or when her dad would stop in the student center to talk to people. "My parents know just about everyone," she said. "It takes an additional 30 minutes to an hour to get through the student center because my dad knows everyone and is always stopping to talk and introduce everybody." Brenda said she enjoyed having Erica and Erica's twin brothers, Derek and Dustin, graduate students, on campus with her. "It's really neat to still get to see them every day and get to hear what they're learning about," Brenda said. -DEANNTHOMAS
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