Norman Rohrer’s recollection appeared in the March, 1966, edition of Alumni magazine. In addition to writing several books, he was Executive Secretary of the Evangelical Press Association.

God used Wheaton College to pull me off the road where I was wandering aimlessly and set me on a course of Christian service. When I stopped at Unit I Men’s Dorm in the summer of 1949 I intended only to spend the night and then be on my way to Alaska. Mr. Arthur Volle, then living in the dorm with his family, asked if I had come to go to school. I explained that, though I was 20 years old, I had no high school and couldn’t even think about college. But he didn’t give up. He invited me to take a series of aptitude tests which I did in the Wheaton Administration Office. At the end of that time I was given a letter which I took to York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois.

On the basis of that letter I was given five two-hour exams called the General Educational Development tests provided by the Armed Forces. I passed those on Friday, got my high school diploma for $4.58 and enrolled the following day for second semester Summer School at Wheaton College. I knew immediately what I wanted to do and went straight to the table marked “Writing.” This became my major. Each summer at Wheaton I traveled abroad in search of stories and experiences. From Wheaton I went to Grace Theological Seminary and earned the B.D. degree and from there into Christian journalism. Today I am a freelance writer serving 14 accounts among mission agencies and service organizations, including my post as executive secretary of the Evangelical Press Association.

I hand much of the credit to Wheaton College. Without its providential intervention I would no doubt have wound up in Alaska with little aim or purpose and of even less usefulness to the Lord. It’s easy to see why I can say, “Thank God for Wheaton College!”