Teaching During the Wuhan Virus

We had our spring break in the first week of March. My friend in Ohio was already going to start remote/online teaching. Another friend mentioned that her daughter was coming home on 16th March from her university in Missouri after they decided to go online for the rest of the semester. I was shocked! 

Nothing was going on for us yet at Palm Beach State College. We went back to college after spring break and I was a bit concerned about being there. I took tissue to the class and told my students that they were welcome to sit far away from each other if they wanted (they did not). Classes and labs went on as usual. On Thursday I mentioned to one of my classes that if we do go online then it will be class as usual for us.  And then on Friday we got the email saying that classes are suspended for the next week and we will be going remote/online for the rest of the semester, so we have to prepare our courses for it. 

This was very hastily done. We were to report to college on Monday as usual, but no classes. We had a faculty meeting with our Associate Dean where he answered questions. We all decided as a chemistry department to skip one lab, that was missed during the suspended week, and do videos or dry lab for the next two. We all had only three labs left. After collecting all my notes etc. that day, I left. 

Next day I came back to record two organic labs, one for 1 and one for 2. One of our lab techs helped to record. It felt just strange to be there doing this with the virus hanging around. It took him about a week to send it to me and then I worked on it and uploaded it for my students. They were good in watching it and giving me a good report on it.  Once the labs were over, I was feeling a lot better.  I had to make a final exam for my organic 1 lab. It was interesting to make it on Blackboard. It took me a bit but I think I was able to do a good job on it. And so did my students, they did well on it.

I spent the week of 16th March working on changing the dates for the work due and making new calendars. I had done a lot of work already on making all my lectures online on YouTube, so I did not have to worry about that. I had to sign up for some online testing for my organic because I knew that was going to be hard to test on Blackboard (our learning software). We all had to learn how to use Collaborate, which is to teach a class in synchronous manner. It is a good software.

The college messed up a bit on this. They knew this was coming and could have warned us earlier to get ready so we don’t lose that one week. But I don’t know what they were thinking! Because of their lack of timely action, we lost a week and we had to work extra hard one week to get things ready for the rest of the semester. And then within the next week the campus was shut down. The technology we ordered was put on hold without telling us for more than a week. That was stupid. I had to order a laptop in order to be able to teach my classes. I just cannot do without writing in my classes. Other professors may teach using power points but I don’t. 

The students were very good in adapting the new method of learning and I am grateful for that. There were some minor cheating incidents, which was kind of expected.  Other than that, students were participating more actively in class and came to class more and more on time. Although there were some that I lost due to them having kids at home and their time was divided. 

I will be glad when this semester is done in the next couple weeks. I am sure the students are also just waiting for this to be done. 

The couple good things that came out of this were one, I got to learn some new technology in Blackboard. I got a new laptop; a Microsoft Surface Pro and I am really enjoying using it. The second thing that is really working out is that I finally have a schedule that I like. I go for my exercise in the morning, teach, take a break and teach again and then I am free! It's nice that I am free after 2 pm. Although I still have work to do but I can do it at my own time.

I am very much a homebody and I love where I live so it is not a big problem for me to be working from home. Maybe I am even liking it. Although I don’t think it is good in the long term.

The End of the Semester

As the semester ends there are a variety of emotions from the students …. And me also.  The one part of the semester I don’t like is assigning grades. I feel that students should assess themselves based on how much they think they learned. But of course, no one can honestly assess themselves with objectivity (even instructors sometimes don’t assign grades with objectivity).

I don’t know what happens to the students by the 3^rd exam. Its only then that they realize how they are doing in class, and then I have students writing to me, asking me personally what they can do to improve their grades. But after the 3^rd exam its really tough for anyone to improve drastically to change the letter grade to one higher. I get reasons like: I spent one hour solving this one problem, and I wonder – WHY? Why would anyone spend so much time on just one problem? I have learned to move on to other problems and then come back to that one problem I could not do before. I even tell them to do this – why don’t they learn to move on? 

Then there is the classic, “I am getting As in all my classes except yours”, well….I don’t know. I cannot comment on that one until I see their transcripts.

Another one, which is probably a little more honest, I did not give this class enough time.

I just don’t know how to guide these students anymore. There is so much going on in their lives: classes, work, family and of course the ever present, phone. I just cannot believe them when they say that they study 2 hours for my class and still get only a C. It means they are just not studying the right way or they think that opening the book is considered studying. And one has to think themselves and realize, what am I doing wrong if I am studying this long and not getting the grade? They should think about getting help early on. But there is a general feeling of self confidence (or lack of it) that does not let them get help.

The other culprit I think, is work. They work to pay for the course (maybe?). But the problem arises when the work takes precedence over education. Some students can manage it all, but most cannot.  One of the things I really like about our Indian culture is that studies are done in the first 25 years of the life. And I can see the benefits of it. One has to get education out of the way before you start a family or work. How can you give education the time it needs when you have kids or if you are reporting to a boss? And I see that conflict all the time in this college. And there is nothing I can do about it.

But one other problem I have with about 70% of the students is their lack of study skills. Study skills include taking notes, practicing problems, copying notes from one notebook to another, scheduling the right amount of time to the right subject. I will confess that I was never a high IQ student, but I did put in my time to learn the material. And I never shied away from getting help. I hardly get anyone during the semester for help.

The end of the semester brings in the typical question, “is there any extra credit”? And I never understood that question. I never had that when I was going to school. You are supposed to do everything for the given credit. If you cannot do that, then how can you do extra credit? Extra credit is supposed to be intellectually difficult – so I don’t want to give something even more difficult to do if someone cannot do the normal stuff.  And then it suddenly becomes my problem that I am not giving them extra credit.  Last year I broke down and I did give extra credit – out of 36 students, only 2 took advantage of it. So there goes that idea!

I am at a loss as to how to motivate my students to do better and show them that education is the only solution to all problems. It gives one a better life and a chance to succeed. If they are going to college, they must realize that aspect. Chemistry is a hard subject, no one takes it for fun, so one must be ready for the time they have to spend on it too. And I think that if you cannot handle the heat, get out of the fire. It’s possible that chemistry is not for everyone. But how do you say that to a student?

Every semester I go through the same emotions.Every semester I feel that the students should have the responsibility to take care of their education and the acceptance of whatever they get as a result of their work.

SU - One month later

As my time at SU is coming closer to an end, I am feeling tiredness coming along.  My teaching load went from one full class to two full classes and just this week an addition of three labs in the morning.  The problem is not that I have two classes; the problem is that I have to prep for them. For one of them – the Biotech class is getting to more inorganic – and that part of chemistry is soooo boring. I am not enjoying teaching it and so consequently it’s hard for me to keep the students engaged. Those silly reactions that no one is going to use or remember are driving me crazy!

The other class is fine – its organic, but I still have to look over the material since the syllabus is slightly different here. And I am not happy that I cannot use my power point for spectroscopy.  How will the students learn if they don’t see what a spectrum looks like? And in this day and age, there are no accessible computers in this university. What the h%$#!! And now I have to start teaching Solutions? I cannot believe their syllabus is so messed up. How can you have organic and physical chemistry all in one semester?

And then this week, I was assigned three more labs in the morning. Since two faculty are now gone, each person has had to take in more than their share of load.  When I went to teach the lab this week I found out that the students have done only two labs! Just about two months and only two labs? What the h$%#!! So, I quickly did a qualitative analysis with them. The lab tech helped very nicely in getting the chemicals – but no pipettes! What the h#%$! I cannot believe I am teaching in this expensive university which is equipped even poorly than my college 35 years ago! I pity the students. I don’t know why they come here – it’s possible other places are worse? Or do they know what they are missing? I don’t know.

Since last week the HOD has been on and off. She says she is not feeling well – who would? With the stuff going on, it would give anyone stress. I am all tired out.  What is even more tiring is how the administration is behaving, as if losing two faculty is not a big deal. I am here only temporarily – on 10th April, these poor faculty will have two lectures and three more labs to accommodate. Then what? And really – why am I given so much to teach? I don’t even work here!!

Luckily next week is their mid-term exams, so I will get some time off. Hopefully I will not get examination duty anywhere. I just have to grade papers for my class. Which, the organic one is too large, if all the students take the exam! Not fair. But after that, I only have one week left. Then it is fun fun fun for six weeks before I start at Capital. And teaching at Capital is not bad at all. I will be back in States, in my usual elements.

This week has been particularly tiring….hope it ends soon.

Critical Thinking

It seems like peoples critical thinking is disappearing.  Forget about analysis and deduction. We don't seem to have the patience to read anything.  We don't want our brains to hurt by thinking about anything.  Everyone just wants the answers......I will google anything but please don't make me think!! (I need my time to gossip and play on my phone!)

My students
This is the toughest group of all.  As a chemistry professor for so long, I feel that students take chemistry as a means to get to a goal - med school, pharmacy, vet school etc. What they think is, "If I could just pass chemistry I would get to the life I want."  Which for me translates into, "I am not really interested in this subject, just give me a C so I can move on to my next thing."  Well okay fine! But then at least memorize a little bit.  No they don't even want to make that effort.  Now it comes down to, "Just give me the answers.  I don't want to even bother memorizing because I don't need this stuff anyway."

This creates a very formidable atmosphere to teach in. Thank God there are a few good students who do care about the subject and performing well. Those are the ones who make it all worthwhile.

My Colleagues
Another tough bunch! They are just interested in only themselves.  No one looks at the big picture or creativity or applying themselves. The job for everyone has become more like, "I will impart the information I have been giving for the past years, in the same manner I have been doing and I will go home." Like a robot!

So many times I would like to have a discussion about how to make our students learn better, how to change our teaching methodology, how can we develop professionally while doing all this teaching - but no one has time to discuss.  I barely get to talk about the problems I am having and I feel my time is up.

I would love to have some more time to develop some new strategies for teaching, some new labs for students....but how much can I do alone? It is exhausting.

The People
What happened to them?? I started writing this blog a couple years ago and never got to finish it.  Now seems to be the perfect time to finish it. What happened to the public? Were they always this stupid? I think they were - they just revealed themselves this year. How can anyone elect a person with no character or decency? They showed how they can be swayed by fake news and a fake leader.  I am not just talking about USA 2016, I am talking about all over the world!

When we don't think critically or even just think...we all lose, as a society as people as human beings.....one of the biggest thing that differentiates us from animals (besides the separate thumb) is our ability to think. And if we give up on that, then what do we have left?

The Professor of the Millennials

I have been writing a lot about my students but I have not mentioned how I have grown in the last 20 years.

I started as a typical professor teaching in a small liberal arts university. I was prepared for my classes. I taught from text books that I thought were quality books and challenged my students.  I gave routine homework as I knew from my education that feedback is very important. I did not have any feedback on any of my work for more than 6 years and I could never tell what I had done wrong. I did not want my students to feel that way. Exam should not be the only way to evaluate. So I routinely tested them with quizzes and in class questions.

This is how it went on for 10 years.  I changed some text books. My exams were still all written out and hand graded by me. I felt good about the quality of product coming out of my classes.

Then I changed my job for another university.  This was a similar university to my previous one with one major difference. The fees was too high. The students attending this university were generally the privileged ones.  I had hardly any diversity in my class. Within one year I could see the problem. These students were ready to blame anyone for not succeeding in my course. Even a hint that they were going to get a B was not good enough for them, so they lashed out.  For the first time in my life I was forced to give multiple choice exams because my students were accusing me of unfair grading. This had never happened to me before. I had only two grade challenges in my life, even now,  after 20 yrs.  All this really bummed me out.  So I looked for another job.

I found one in a nice college that had a lot of diversity in student and faculty.  Great I thought! Well....not so fast!

It turns out there is a great difference between a Masters and PhD professor. And from what I saw in my department, the MS graduated professors did not challenge the students as much as I would. It turned out to be a popularity contest. Anyone demanding quality product would not be popular. But students also don't demand quality, they demand good grades.

The other problem I faced was the type of students I was getting: there is no quality control, there was no prerequisite and there was also not a great demand on the student to do well in the courses. It became a catch-22 for me. I was required to teach at a lower level, give easy grades and not worry about the product or the long term learning consequence for the student! This was a big eye opener for me.

I also saw that most students just did not have the time to study, they are working, taking care of family or commuting so much that they miss class. That inspired me to make power points so students would have some notes to refer to.  That was not enough....I eventually recorded my lectures, so they could understand what I was trying to teach. That as not enough because they still don't know how to solve problems....so then I started making notes of me teaching them how to solve problems (pencasts). So it seemed to me that I was working more than they were.

Do I see the results of my hard work? I don't know. The information is out there. I don't track the usage of that info because I know that students can pass my classes without all that information - they used to - 10 years ago!! Now they cannot concentrate in class, they cannot give time to study and what is bothersome, they don't even try. They just give up. Why? Who teaches them that giving up is okay? How can you keep wasting time and money in college. Be done with it and start working and do other things in life. College is not work....it is one step in the journey of life.

I have adapted a lot over the last 10 years but there are things I will never understand because I have not been through it myself so I can only sympathize with them - not empathize. I am very grateful I never had to pay for my education; my parents supported me. Getting my PhD in USA showed my how expensive education could be.  Thank god my subject was chemistry so I could get teaching assistant job otherwise I would never have been able to afford PhD.

I sympathize with my students that they have to go through such hardship in such young age. But not all are like that. The ones who have financial aid and have some support should have no excuse for not being better in their studies. But then .... it takes all kinds........

As time goes on - I know I will adapt. Sadly chemistry has not changed - it has not become easier. It still requires time and hard work.  There is no question to what hard work can do for a person. I don't have to do half the things I do for my students, but I do, so they understand that it is not just their struggle to do well, it's mine too.

The Nature of Student - 2016

I have been thinking a lot about what is going on with the students in this day and age. I have been teaching for over 20 years and it does not use to be like this. I had students who would come to class, do the assignments, study for exams and take the grade they got.  I did have some classes where the whole class did not do well but that was predictable because of the material. They had their text books to study from, they would come to office hours or form their own study groups. 

There are so many things that have changed in the past few years that I don’t know where to begin.  I don’t know if this is a national issue or just in my college (a two year college). 

I have seen that students don’t buy text books, they cannot “afford” them.  To counter this problem I have offered students a free text book from my office – but they don’t want to take it. So it means – they don’t want to use the text book. It is possible that a number of instructors are using their power points as guidelines. They are printing and giving those so students don’t see the need for buying text books.  I don’t think these instructors realize the damage they are doing.  Students are not learning how to read and understand material on their own. They rely on the instructor now to explain everything.

Students don’t have note taking skills. Their writing speed is so slow that it slows me down.  It may come from all those power point notes they have been getting from instructors. No need to take notes – just add pointers.  But when I tell them to print out specific power points slides for class they don’t! I am at a loss!

Not taking charge of their own education.  Why do they think that they can come to the lecture for three hours per week and be able to do well on the exam? For something like chemistry or any subject for that matter, one would need to spend so much time outside the class to study.  They don’t remember anything from class so even if they ask questions I have to go over the entire topic. 

They don't think remembering any information is good for them. They are so used to looking at their phones for info that they have forgotten how to memorize.  It is also a result of a lot of instructors now giving open book exams. No pressure on students to remember anything.

Respect and attitude.  These two things are of course character and not about studying. But I feel that both these will affect a person’s learning in the long run. If one has no respect for the professor or the subject then how can you expect to learn anything. If the student thinks they are smart already….well then! And attitude! Oh God! This is big one. There is no humility in their behavior and there is no shame. Both of these qualities are required for one to realize that they have put some effort in their learning rather than blaming someone else or being okay with a "C". They have been asked to challenge everyone around them but not themselves.

I will admit that not all students are a gone case but a lot of them could be so much more if they could only push themselves a little more.

The saddest I feel is for those who know are performing poorly in a class but still don’t get help. They have so many other distractions in their life that they are not able to focus.

One last thing I would say about the American education system that bothers me a lot is “W” on a transcript. The ability of a student to withdraw from a class. Why? It’s a commitment – for only 15 weeks. Students should have to go through hoops to withdraw from a class. But here it is so easy.  I think it is more of a monetary thing than anything else. At least the college got the money – what do they care if the student withdraws? If they did, I think their graduation rates would be a lot higher.

Compromising in Education

It has been a really weird week for me. First the Trump tape came out which really struck a nerve with me, then the debate where Trump lurking behind Clinton, then I gave the exams in my two classes. Both classes pretty much bombed it even though they had 5 days to study for barely two chapters. I just wanted to go in a cave and not show my face. I felt terrible as a professor, as a woman and in general as a human being.

I thought deep and hard for two days before I had to face my students to give their exams back. What would I say? How would they feel? Could I control my temper? I did not want to give a pep talk. I feel the pep talks are over rated. Students know what they are doing - they just don't think about the consequences of their actions.

Then I kept thinking of my evaluation.  All the administration wants to see is student success from me. I am the sole person responsible. No one wants to see the quality of the students or the burdens they have while going to school.  No one asks them to be responsible for their learning.  The employers want the people they hire to be ready to work, the administrators want student success, the students want to pass the class without really studying ..... so the only person with any moral dilemma is me! I am the one holding everyone back from their goals - except the employers. They will never get a "job" ready employee because the whole system of making that employee is broken.

As I said, this last week was really hard. I had this discussion with myself on quality vs student success. And then I thought why am I being so hard on myself? If both the students and administration want the same thing then who am I to stand in the middle? These students have so much pressure outside school - work, family, time issues.  I never had to study under these circumstances. I will never understand how the richest country in the world cannot provide cheaper education.  And the parents...how can they not pay for their children? Its too much burden on a 20 year old, to go to school and pay for their own education.

So then I decided to change my style. I decided to change my exams from what "I" thought the students should know to what the "students" think they should know.  After so many years I decided to give a second chance on an exam to my students.  I know of so many instructors who don't cover all the material, so many who give open book exams...why am I busting my behind to make life hard for my students? Why should they have to suffer just because they have me as their professor? They can do better on the exams and feel better about themselves and I will feel good that they are doing good. So what if I don't cover all the chapters? So what if they don't all become as ready as a chemistry undergraduate will be...these are not chemistry majors. Most are going on for other professions, so most don't even care about chemistry as I would want them to.

Somewhere inside a small part of me will probably die. I already feel like I am cheating my students by not challenging them more. I want them to become more competitive in the world....but they don't see it this way. Ultimately the compromise is everyone's: mine - for not teaching to the level I think I should; the student's - for not challenging themselves to reach their potential; the administrator's - for making a poor product; and finally the biggest loser is America itself - for thinking it's investing so much in education but not getting the quality worker it needs.

The Millennial Student

People talk about the millennials as if they are a different species. But these are the product of current parenting and economic circumstances/situation.

I am convinced that a number of millennials have been cheated by everyone around them: their family, their school and of course their country.

Why do I feel so?

Their families let them down by placing so much burden on them of their family and financially.  These young students take all the responsibility of an adult family member but not that of their education. It could be that their parents are also working hard and need help in managing the home.  The students have to thus finance their education themselves.

Their government fails them by providing them free K-12 but not taking care of the quality of that free such expensive and such a key training.

In their schools, K-12, they have not been intellectually challenged. They have been told to do busy work that makes them feel they are putting in the effort and that is all that they are graded for. They have not been forced to memorize, not been asked to think critically, they are not taught math and writing skills.  Their hard work is limited to open book work and busy work. As a result they come to college unprepared for what is required to be a good student.

I feel these students have been cheated out of a good education.  They are not trained for good study skills, the determination, the discipline or the inspired to do well intellectually.  I am not in a place to say what the K-12 education is like, all I see is their product and that product is not to par.

Of course I also teach at a primarily 2 year college which has an open enrollment policy. We probably don't get the top of the GPA pool.  Which is fine. I don't mind having a B student...What I cannot handle is that if they are getting a D that they don't seem to care about it. They don't bother to seek help from the instructors, from tutors etc even though all these services are free. They would rather repeat the course rather than studying and getting through it. It is heartbreaking to see their state. And then there are some who are getting B but will withdraw because they want an A only. There is no in between.

I just don't know how to get through these kids.  They don't come for advise and if they do they cannot understand. They have their personal home situations which I don't feel like I am the right person to talk to them about. I don't know if they are frustrated or not, but I certainly am frustrated by all this. Why? Because my administrators hold me responsible for my students passing my classes.  They don't care that their students have so many struggles at home: taking care of parents and grandparents, being the only earning member of their family, taking care of kids, not having transportation for school, and finally not enough goal setting for their future - this is of course the responsibility of the college. I can only do so much.

I have my own issues also as a professor....another blog :-)

The Latest in Education - My Opinion

I recently attended the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education in Greeley, Colorado. What an amazing group of chemistry faculty I met there! I was presenting but I always feel that my peers are doing such great work.

I attended some organic chemistry teaching presentations and some liberal learning teaching. Both had their own flavors.

Organic (and general chemistry presentations) was filled with flipping teaching technique and results. It made me realize that the current student population has changed so much that we have to completely change our method of teaching. My generation of faculty has been taught via the traditional method.  We learned new concepts in class and we went home and studied and practiced problems. It worked! Now....there seems to be other priorities for students. They cannot seem to study at home. So we, the faculty, adapt. Why? To see that education survives? Or to see that our profession survives? Why are the students no longer interested in their own learning? What is it about the culture here that is telling them that you can succeed in a class without studying? And that too in a class like chemistry!

Faculty need to show success rates in our classes.  College funding depends on graduation rates. And now also job placement. So instead of making sure that the input (students) are prepared to go to college, the pressure is more on faculty to make sure that the students pass.  Will they get a job? Who knows? Currently I work at a 2 year college so at least that is not a problem for us for in chemistry.  It is the statistic of the four year college they transfer to.

The system is becoming so convoluted. No one is the winner except the college administrators. They don't have to provide quality starting material for a good quality product. They can easily shift accountability to the faculty to make anyone into an employable "success" person.  One biggest gap that is missed is that "teaching" is not a one way process - there is also that "learning" coming from the other side.

On the flip side there are also faculty who get so entrenched in their own style of teaching that they are not willing to upgrade their teaching material or style. The world is changing, we have to change also while maintaining professionalism, quality and integrity in our teaching. There is no measure for all these qualities. And these qualities are not even respected much. Students look for what grade they are getting and administrators look for success rate numbers. Everything in the middle is "magic".

In closing I will say that I am grateful that I have some percent of dedicated students in my classes. They motivate me to be better at my job. Education is important in creating the next generation of thinkers, doers and creators. It should not be taken lightly by any party.

Where Does my Strength Come From? Part 1 - My background

Am I strong? How do I make myself do the best I can everyday, living alone for so long? What is in me that gives me inner strength? Life has had its challenges and I have been dealing with a lot of them on my own.  I have achieved some things I wanted to, but some are still eluding me. As I am nearing my mid-life I have been thinking about this a lot.I don't have good answers - but I have given it some thought. 

First of all - why did I think about this at all? My background is quite different from a number of my peers and the more I think about it, the more I wonder how did I manage it all? I feel comfortable in my life right now - my job, house, health, social life etc. I have been living alone for about 20 years and have had to take care of a number of things myself. Where does the strength for all this come from? I may have an idea...but I have to go through ALL my life on this earth so far.

The Early Years:

My mother's love showing in this picture

My first 8 yrs in Dehra Dun (where I was born), were okay for me. There are a few things I remember I disliked: one was that being the youngest of all my immediate cousins, I was teased a lot; I never felt like I fit with my classmates - don't know if it was because I was the youngest? My parents move to Nigeria (with my brother and I) when I was 8 years old. My father had just changed his career to begin a new one as a professor at University of Ibadan. 

After two years in Nigeria, when I was 11 years of age, my parents sent me to Vanasthali Vidyapeeth, Jaipur, India, for one year. I was in the 8th grade at that time. Living in the hostel was definitely not easy. It was one mishap after another. But most of all - it was lonely.

After one year, my parents decided to bring me back to Nigeria for four years to finish O and A level (10th and 12th). Not easy at all!! My brother and I were in the same class (and section!!)  It was hard work and since I was always the youngest in the class - I had to work twice as hard to understand what everyone got easily. I finished 12th grade when I was 16. 

The College Years:
I was sent back to India to do my B.Sc. in Chemistry. I am very thankful to my father that he persisted on me studying Chemistry. I was back in the hostel after four years of living at home. I was also under the guardianship of my maternal uncle (mama) who I had met only once before.  So I had to adjust living in someone's else's guardianship other than my parents. I was only 16, and I did my best! And I am grateful to my uncle for making sure I got admitted in RG Girls College. I would not change that college experience for anything!  

After two years my father made sure I did my M.Sc. in chemistry and the only place I got admission was JV Jain College in Saharanpur (thanks to another uncle).  This was an adjustment of mammoth proportion - although I did not realize it at that time. First, I was living at home in my aunt's (bua's - my father's sister) in-law's house (not in the hostel), and second the family was a joint family. My first and only experience of such a home. Oh I have stories!! Again, in retrospect this was the best time of my education yet.

Oh well....now back to Nigeria after 4 years; here Papa advised me to take some classes to pass time until we packed up and moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. So I took two classes- sewing and typing. Both were very useful - typing more than sewing :-). 

All these four years I was flying back and forth to India from Nigeria on my own. Now that I think about it, I lived out of two suitcases for those four years. That in itself was interesting as I had such few belongings :-) Parents would pickup and drop me off in Lagos and relatives in Delhi.

Then time to pack and move to Addis. Oh what an adventure! I will write details in another blog but needless to say it was another experience of my life. Again, on Papa's advice, I volunteered in the lab of a wonderful professor and mentor (and thank God - an organic chemist!!) in the chemistry department, University of Addis Ababa. (Educationally speaking, Papa has been my mentor and director, and it has paid off - at least from my perspective.) I also gave my GRE exams and prepared for PhD in chemistry in the USA.

One year later, I was in University of Toledo admitted and starting my PhD. I was very different than the other Indian girls as they all came from India (I considered myself part African). I also had a cushy landing as my brother was already in the university so I never had to go through what other foreign students had to go through of settling in a new place.

My brother and I in Chicago

PhD time was most eventful and memorable time of my life. I would not change a thing!! I had the best boss, best lab mates and a great room mate (my brother!). I also finished my PhD in a good time of four years. 

I would say that my education was smooth from my point of view. Whether it was my uncles or father or brother - they all helped make my education a smooth process.  All I had to do was study hard.  Well...and I did have a lot of fun on the way; I enjoyed every aspect of my higher education. By age 24 I was ready for post doctoral work.

Post Doctoral Life:
With a little networking I got my first post doc position at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, a premier place for PDT scientists in the world - as it was the birth place of PDT. This was also my first time living on my own in my apartment, managing my money, driving around in the city on my own etc....had some micro hiccups.

After working there for one year, I felt my first major hiccup. I was jobless for the first time in my life, at a place in time where I was supposed to have secured a job and be independent. I was 25 years old. I had a very hard 4 months. I literally hit the pavement in Buffalo, as they say, to find a job. I was wondering what would happen to me if I no job? What about my status in the USA? Where would I live? The uncertainty was too much. I had to move to Detroit to live with my brother and parents and go back on a F-1 visa. Not pleasant. 

Luckily while I was working at Roswell, I had managed to secure an interview with another leading chemist in PDT, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. The interview happened in November in Ottawa, Canada (that interview was another experience I would rather not have again - ever!). I was offered a post doctoral position at UBC and I was happy to go to Vancouver, Canada the next year. One of my uncle's sister lived in Vancouver and they became my family there. It was such a blessing. 

My "Real" Working Life:
Just after 9 months in Vancouver, I was offered my first teaching job at Park University - how I got the interview is also another story! I interviewed in Seattle and nailed it! (When the provost gives you a hug after the interview you know you have the job!) I did not even know where Park University was on the map of USA. One month later, I moved to Parkville (near Kansas City) in January - middle of the snow season.

I have to mention that I had never been to Buffalo, Vancouver or Parkville before. I went to these places mostly by myself, found a place to live until I got a more permanent place. It was a little better in Parkville since the college had faculty housing, but I had not seen the work place!! What a surprise that was! A pleasant one. This will be a huge other blog.  Many key events happened while I was in Parkville: my H-1 visa, my marriage, my divorce, my green card and my citizenship. All very important events of my life.

My next move came after 11 years to Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia. I interviewed there, saw the place; but kismet would have it such that it was the worst two years of my life. I would never want to relive those again. I met some nice people and had some good experiences but as an academic - worst place ever.

My desperate search for job brought me to West Palm Beach, Florida, where I currently am. Here again were some adventures and mishaps very early on (mostly in the residential part of my life) - but all things happen for a good reason - right? As a result of those I quit renting and ended up buying my first home here which is now my little piece of heaven.

Then in 2011, I realized I was getting bored over the summer (and I did not want to teach) so I decided to go to India on my own (previously I had always gone with Papa because I never really felt safe traveling in India by myself). Went twice in two years and it was good experience. My blog for those years is already written.

In the meantime, I learned a lot about managing a house on my home, renovating, painting, finding a handy man etc etc. 

Its worthwhile to mention that while I was working in Kansas City, I went to University of Hawaii, Hilo, to teach organic chemistry during their summer semester (sadly, just one time). Lately I have a nice relationship with Capital University, in Columbus, where I have been teaching over summer, when I am not in India. So yet again I live like a gypsy!!

While at Park and Shenandoah, I was very active in attending conferences and workshops.  I got the chance to see so much of America through my professional development. I have driven in so many states and taken so many road trips.  I know for sure that I could do only because I was living in this wonderful - most comfortable country - USA!

So back to my original point - what makes me strong? Now that my background is all out there; I think I can assess what has helped me get here.

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