Hmm, I Have Been Places, and I Owe So Much To My Teaching Days in Louisville, Kentucky. Reunion to Come

(Truth is, the place I am right now is jimmying dog biscuits into a Kong, so the pooch leaves me alone for a couple of seconds so I can post)

Another truth is that a manager at Sibley's (my high school job that pretty much paid for my undergraduate degree) bought me Dr. Seuss's book, Oh, The Places You'll Go! as a graduation gift. At the time, I loved the book (never heard of it) and have had it with me in all the places that I've gone.

On Saturday, I was invited to do a Keynote at the Kentucky Writing Project conference at the University of Kentucky. As I was putting together the story of leaving NY to KY back to NY then to CT and now back for a KY visit, I kept thinking about this book. Twenty five years ago I could have never imagined that I'd be doing what I am doing right now or that I'd have the opportunities that I've had. As a senior in high school, I only wanted to be a White male Oprah. I'm somewhat close, I suppose (not really) and although I don't have my own talkshow, I do get captive audiences with students and teachers.

The revelation I made while putting together the talk is that so many of my professional seeds were planted in downtown Louisville. The summer I did the Louisville Writing Project I wrote my first ten-minute play and explored writing a poem for the Sudanese Lost Boys. I also began writing about my Vietnamese students in mainstream classrooms. Fast forward and the ten-minute play festival is in its 3rd year of existence in Connecticut and had an impressive ten year run at the Brown. My work with the Sudanese Lost Boys led to my dissertation and the creation of Ubuntu Academy. A chapter I wrote about The Pressures of Teaching led me toward the foundation for addressing violent acts with students. Through scripts, research, poetry, and video, I'm making the case that the Writing Project has been a tremendous community to belong to...I've been to numerous conferences, several states, and a handful of countries. I've met singers and actors and writers and wonderful teachers. I continue to be inspired by the numerous students I interact with, and keep pinching myself with the question, "Am I really on this journey?"

Ah, I am. I remain a nerd, a thinker, an explorer, a teacher, a reader and a daily writer. But, as always the nerd and teacher always comes back to the forefront of who I am.

And I would do this with a Fox and I would do this in a Box.

Today, I am feeling fortunate, indeed.