On a warm September day in 1957, author John Allen Resko walked through the gates of Saint Charles into a world he was ill prepared to confront. He had no clear plan for the future and didn’t possess the financial means to follow another path. After concluding that the religious life and his temperament did not mesh, Resko, who had spent nine years pursuing a religious vocation, walked away. A continuation of The Gates of Saint Charles, Cherish the Exception narrates how his life evolved into something happy and unpredictable. Resko discusses how he reeducated himself, earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois, and began a successful scientific career in Oregon. With humor, Resko shares how he adapted to his new life in the scientific world, including his marriage and his research work in the area of hormones and behavior in nonhuman primates. Cherish the Exception offers a unique personal perspective of how Resko was able to reconcile his religious with scientific beliefs.