Professor to Informal Ambassador
Despite his parents’ discouraging words about a teaching career, LB pursued his dream, which led to earning a Fulbright Scholarship and teaching university students in multiple United States and France.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
LB was the older of two children, big brother to his sister. His father was a federal government employee, involved in accounting and tracking inventory. LB’s mother had been a ‘buyer’ for a national department store chain. She was then a homemaker until the children were more independent, after which she managed a local retail clothing store.
CHILDHOOD THOUGHTS OF AN ADULT CAREER
When telling his parents, as early as his elementary school years, that he wanted to be a teacher, their unified response was always: “Teaching doesn’t pay enough!” So, LB put aside his thoughts of an adult career and devoted himself to his passion: reading. The town librarian became so accustomed to LB signing out the maximum four books and within a few days, having read and returned them, that she quietly ignored the limit. When she and LB thought no one was looking, she let LB take as many books as he could carry out of the library.
SCHOOL DAYS
English and History courses were preferred subjects for LB, who disliked geometry and dreaded algebra, the only class where he literally watched the clock as it clicked much too slowly toward the end of class.
LB was always comfortable with fellow students and teachers. Energetic, he participated in many high school activities, including chorus, audio-visual aids club, English and Latin clubs, photography club, football (freshman year), track and weightlifting (both 4 years). Noting his lack of affection for working with numbers, LB cannot now recall why he joined the high school Math club in his senior year.
COLLEGE
Despite his parent’s warnings about the economics of the teaching profession, LB never abandoned that dream and used it to focus his applications to college. Fortunately, LB achieved a high SAT (Standard Aptitude Test) score to more than offset his modest, high school Grade Point Average (GPA). He was accepted at the state university but chose, instead, to attend a lesser-known public university with a good reputation for its education curriculum.
EARLY CAREER EXPERIENCE MAY ALTER YOUR PATH
A common procedure for education courses at any college or university is to require recently enrolled students to experience early, the perspectives of a teacher within a real classroom. This usually results in the future teacher confirming their choice of career but may also lead to abandoning such a career path, which is better to decide sooner rather than after taking multiple education courses which won’t ever be utilized. For LB, his early participation in making bean bags with elementary school students, led to his firm conclusion: dealing with this age group is not for me!
LB remained on track to be a teacher by devoting himself to his studies, though he changed his major from ‘Education’ to ‘English Studies’ which would qualify for teaching English composition and literature courses within a high school setting.
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Enjoying the world of education as both a student and prospective teacher, LB decided to continue his learning process after graduating from college, by enrolling in graduate school, the cost of which was essentially covered by LB teaching (at age 22) college English courses, involving both writing skills and appreciation of English and American literature.
GRADUATING FROM GRADUATE SCHOOL – NOW WHAT?
Eventually, the road of formal education must come to an end but even then, the end might be postponed. During his graduate course work, LB decided to apply for a ‘Fulbright Advanced Teaching Scholarship to France.’
FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP
(Editor’s note – The ‘Fulbright Program’ is one of several U.S. Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal to improve intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. Via the program, competitively selected American citizens including students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists may receive scholarships or grants to study, conduct research, teach, or exercise their talents abroad; citizens of other countries may qualify to do the same in the U.S.
The program was founded by US. Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946 and is one of the most widely recognized and prestigious scholarships in the world, providing approximately 8,000 grants annually – approximately 1,600 to US students, 1,200 to US scholars, 4,000 to foreign students, 900 to foreign visiting scholars and several hundred to teachers and professionals.)
LB’s Fulbright application reflected his college academic achievements, which fortunately were recognized by the committee which awarded him a Fulbright scholarship, enabling LB to teach American literature to French college students at the University of Metz. He later transferred his college professor duties to a different university in France.
A special opportunity provided to LB as a Fulbright Scholar, was to represent all the French based Fulbright scholars at a meeting in Berlin, Germany, where he visited ‘Checkpoint Charlie’, famous for its role during the decades-long Cold War between the U.S. and Russia.
During LB’s several decades teaching abroad, he was able to indulge his passion for American jazz music through teaching and hosting a radio show. Another interest of LB was to learn all about wine-making and French cuisine.
Expanding his informal role as an Ambassador for Americans and American Culture, LB led efforts to bring the nuances of American baseball and football to his French and German friends. One local, observing LB playing middle linebacker in an adult football league, was overhead to say: “Watch out for the old, bald guy in the middle!”
SIDE PASSIONS MIGHT PRODUCE INCOME
Having educated himself about winemaking and wine-tasting, LB partnered with a lawyer friend to import wines from France for sale in England and the United States. When LB returned from France to continue teaching at a college in his home state, he was asked to write restaurant and wine articles from a large, local newspaper.
LB later became Chair of American Studies at a western, U.S. college.
(Editor’s note – LB’s interests in learning and practicing the details of his multiple interests, qualify him as a true ‘Renaissance Man’ regardless of whether he chose to so define himself that way.)
CAREER SATISFACTION
Combining LB’s friendly personality, love of learning and dedication to passing his knowledge of writing and English literature to students literally across the world, LB became an informal American Ambassador, whose service to others at home and abroad, will have a continuing, positive, ripple effects on both sides of “The Pond” (a European term for the Atlantic Ocean).
