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From Beatnik to Scholar
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first day of “Beat Genera-
■erature class, Strickland
in fitting the bill for what
professor one would envi-
iching the course. He wore
boots, baggy jeans and
raided pony tail that hit
,' down his back. He looked
haracter right off the pages
the Road" by Jack Kerouac,
ce he told the class about
rnies during his younger
he students realized that
hael Strickland's early
ood was slightly different
lost, unless half of Elon is
iking up to Montreal for a
id fueled by Kerouac read-
wing up Strickland had an
s liking for books. “I was
m from early on," he said,
,rg about other places made
nt to experience them."
11954 and raised in Polly
S.C., Strickland developed a
interest for one of the more
versial writers of the time,
erouac. Kerouac's rambling
ves and philosophies on liv-
aw life sparked a revolution
st the underbelly of 1950's
a, a revolution that may
encapsulated by “On the
his most famous novel,
ickland can attest, saying
16 years old he was influ-
0 pick up a rather daring
“Hitchhiking, 1 attribute
reading On The Road,” he
.iterally within of couple of
1 started hitchhiking. It just
from there, 1 even got in
ain thing for several years."
ain thing" was not nearly as
as he made it appear,
ickland bought an Amtrak
.t pass that lasted 90 days
ade sure every day counted,
an arbitrary rule to never
ore than three days in one
plac he said with a grin, "Even if
I wa.-- having a great time, I would
get T;, walk to the train station
and ;me where it was going and
say alright, take me there’.” His
travels took him all over South
west United States, up to Canada
and south to Mexico.
In between his travels, Stirck-
land got his education at Naropa
Institute in Boulder Colo., a college
where he studied under the likes
of Alan Ginsberg, Gregory Corso
and William Burroughs. Once he
graduated, he found himself in a
position many often do; antsy
“Literally for years I could not
sit still in one place. I'd just get
antsy start freaking out,” admits
Strickland. He loved to study
but never found his undeniable
passion during his time in school,
leaving him with few options in
the white-collar world. “After
college, the thought of getting a
job where I had to put on a suit
and go to an office, I couldn’t even
fathom,” he said, “So, for years, and
I’ve always been big on having
other skill sets, all along the way
I learned construction skills and
woodworking skills.” He points
to this outlet as a saving grace, a
guide during a transitional period
from a nomadic beatnik to a part
of the American workforce.
® For years I
could not sit
still in one place,
rd just get antsy,
start freaking out”
-Michael Strickland
Beat Generation professor
Luckily for Elon students
Strickland found his way into
teaching, a field that he uncon
sciously prepared himself for
throughout life with the many
lessons learned and experiences
earned from his travels.
Patrick Lyon, a sophomore at
Elon, attended Strickland's Winter
Term class and came away a
changed man. “He blew me away"
Lyon exclaimed. “First thing is, he
casually mentions that he studied
under Alan Ginsberg and Gregory
Corso. That alone is incredible,
but his ability to communicate
with students is uncanny because
he speaks from experience, from
experience we are reading about
in the novels he assigns.” Lyon
continued to praise Strickland’s
ability to push conceptual bound
aries with students, questioning
social norms and taboos, like gov-
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PHOTO BY KATY CANADA
Strickland’s hitch-hiking past allows for rich stories to be told in the classroom.
ernment control and drug use.
Jared Fitzgerald, a sophomore
at Elon, agreed completely “He
[Strickland] broadened my mind
plain and simple," Fitzgerald
admits. “We got into a deep talk
about how the millennial genera
tion is anesthetized by social me
dia and consumerism, something
that I never ever thought about.
I mean I’m 20 years old, I have
never had to think that deep, and
that’s definitely something I loved
about taking his class."
Being able to share his stories
with students links his two
worlds together, scholar and
adventurer, becoming a breed
of teacher that is rare in today’s
education held. To quote the pro
phetic Kerouac, “The best teacher
is experience", something
Michael Strickland has
plenty of.