My hometown is famous in certain circles! If you are a fan of university sports, and hoops in particular, you are no doubt typical with the name.
I never was a fan of sports, however, so South Bend, IN meant something odd to me.
I grew up in the boondocks of southern Indiana, so far out that my superb friend and I didn’t even have TV or phones! This was 25 years ago, long before the advent of cell phones or satellite TV. I never watched sports because I never watched TV at all! My only exposure to the outside world, beyond grade university, were the weekly trips I would take to South Bend with my parents. Although there were a few stores nearby, South Bend was the closest locale with the big-box stores where they wanted to shop. It wasn’t until after I moved to South Bend that I learned about the rich history of Notre Dame, both in terms of sports and being a cultural powerhome for a century! On the advice of my mother, I looked into taking night classes in Heating and A/C service at the local South Bend learning annex. Although South Bend is well known for higher education, they have a host of learning resources for those of us who aren’t university material. The South Bend learning annex was a godsend for me, and allowed me to take my Heating and A/C certification classes online.Once I had my certification it was easy for me to get a job with one of the various local contractors in South Bend, and the rest, as they say, is history.