Journeys at Pitt

Well, here I am at 40+ starting a PhD and blogging. You did not really expect me to give you the real figure, huh. I am many miles away from home too and left behind a wife and three children and that is the part that is really tough and it's not like it is the first time. Actually this is the fourth time so they are the reason, I always go back home. I love them and I miss them so badly, it hurts- two daughters and a son. I cannot say this is the last. It's my field. I am in education - I am a teacher by morphology but work these days as a education policy analyst, planner, speechwriter and advisor and everything in between - life on a small island state -sunshine, beaches - well not too many where I am from and mostly black sand - volcanic, got it - atypical for a Caribbean destination, vegetation to die for, waterfalls and an underwater world that is ranked among the best in the world, therefore I have to be multifaceted and multi tasked. Its actually 20 degrees where I am right now- a shocker, given my Caribbean origin but I chose this and there is a price to be paid.

There are no universities back there offering my area and you know the price of higher ed. and so I have to follow the $$$ - scholarships, fellowships or whatever they call it these days.

Which leads me to why I am here - Emergencies in Education - natural disasters (Katrina, remember), Man-made disasters (chronic poverty), Schools as safe places, Violence in schools. School was what pulled me out from where I was and what statistics said I should have become. I want to work to make sure that we can preserve it for generations to come.

Education changes a life and its direction like few things can. So this is why I leave my family but I call them every day and I speak to each one most everyday and our 8 year old said, "We talk with you every day. It's like you are still here." Well, I know you are thinking it's not the same. At least, give a guy some points for trying. I miss them and its tough but we have to do what we have to do. I love them and I love education too. After all "A mind is a terrible thing to make."

Now you know where I am coming from.