The Journey’s Start

For me, the Ed  journey started when I read Jonathan Kozol’s Savage Inequalities in 2002. I became obsessed with the Cherry Hill vs. Camden comparison. How many other such scenarios exist, I wondered? How can his journals possibly reflect First World realities?

No way, I thought. After all, I grew up in the Balkans. Could the U.S. schooling system really be in a worse shape than the one I attended? I had to go investigate for myself. Such is my personality!

Sure enough, the journey has been incredible. Here’s the quick play-by-play of my acquired learnings in case you didn’t poke through the resume:

• The NYCDOE experience taught me that:
  • School bathrooms don’t always come equipped with soap and toilet paper. I purchased these items while teaching, along with many other supplies, because I wanted to – and wanted my kids to – feel like human beings.
  • School-houses are sometimes engulfed in cages. No concrete evidence points to the fact that growing-up in a cage-like environment helps prepare you for prison. Either way, the cages seem to yield the Invisible Children.

• The NJDOE experience confirmed much of above. I also:
  • Lost my fear of public speaking, once tackling a 400 person audience!
  • Realized the importance of interdisciplinary program design
  • Began to understand the complexities of the “ELL” reality

• At Wireless Generation I learned about:
  • Agile software development
  • The power of storytelling
  • The power of capturing through design
  • The power of product evangelizing

I left Wireless Generation shortly after the News Corp acquisition. It was time for a major change. I had accumulated five years in the for-profit sector: a long time to be removed from the Savage Inequalities that were still lurking. Yes, I was gaining incredible experience working with brilliant colleagues in a booming industry, but I rarely got to interact with the soldiers on the ground. I missed talking to teachers. I missed experiencing the “light-bulb” effect (i.e., when a kid has an ‘A HA’ because of something you’ve done). I missed compassion-filled, “in-the-moment” living.

So, I set off for Asia. You can read more about that here. I had no plan. I was scared. And, I welcomed being scared. It was as if I needed a healthy dose of fear to jumpstart my fading empathy.

What better way to return to my roots than to force myself out of my comfort zone. I wanted to land in a foreign country, equipped only with the basics. I wanted to feel like I did when my family first landed at JFK.

I left for the trip on August 27, 2011. Irene took a hold of NYC that day. My flight, as you can see on your left, departed at 12:40 p.m. NYC shut down the subways and all its major airports at noon, the same day. Of the 8000+ cancelled flights, mine was one of two to leave the Eastern seaboard that day. I’m pretty convinced this trip was somehow meant to be. I don’t like superstitions.

This seemed more like a “Devine shot”…

Below is the route I took throughout Asia, landing in Tokyo and flying out of Bangkok. It’s a bit small, so here’s the link to the map in google maps:

Here’s the quick play-by-play of my travel learnings, in case you don’t read the travel stories:

First, and foremost, if you plan to travel through SE Asia and currently possess a fear of motorbikes…lose it! Getting on a motorbike is a prerequisite to traveling in this part of the word. In addition…

India taught me that:

• I can feel deeply compassionate!
• I am too comfortable!
• Kids everywhere just want to be smart!

Oh and, school houses sometimes don’t have walls. Kids can still come to school proud, ready to learn.

In China I learned:

• That I know nothing!
• Xie Xie pronunciation depends on the region.
• The government controls the heat, which isn’t turned on until November 15th.
• It’s accepted that smog will adhere to your nostrils, tongue and lungs.
• In Xian, you can get X-ray, blood work and antibiotic care in 1-hour for $15.

Oh, and, airport employee & police performance can be rated, in real-time, by incoming visitors. See the Likert scale on the right.

Hong Kong is like SF, but way more posh.

Singapore forbids Durians on the subway. There is also a law against gum. I’m serious!

The Malaysian flag seems somehow familiar.

Jumping over doorsteps to avoid morning Hindu offerings is one of my fondest memories of Indonesia. Funny, as Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world.

In Bali, they file adolescents’ teeth as part of a “rite of passage” ceremony.

There are three main regions in the Philippines: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Young adults from Mindanao are similar to young Persians, in that many escape their homes in search of better life in Manila, Luzon. As you can see below, Filipinos are also capable of Blind Happiness.

Masa Uzicanin Photography. Blind Happiness. Banaue, Philippines (2011).

Thailand is a good place to end a journey and assimilate back into Western society. The sex tourism there, which originated during the Vietnam War, runs rampant. This reality left a depressed imprint on me.

I could’ve stayed in Asia for another two years. But deep within Bihar state in Bodhgaya, where internet connections are spotty, if existent, I received an email from a woman at the Gates Foundation. Philanthropy was calling. It was time to go home. Time to get back to compassionate, “in-the-moment” living in the real world.

So that’s me. I’ve pretty much caught you up. That’s how my career started. That’s how I got to where I am now. I didn’t officially “work” during my travels, but the passion for Education never left me. So, I visited a school in every Asian country I set foot in. The stark differences in the foreign systems added fuel to the fire. I guess I feel really grateful I was, once again, reminded of the “why”.  I’d like to use the rest of this blog as a platform for “talking” Education, channeling that “why” and collaboratively developing the “how”. I’d love to add your voice to the dialogue. Won’t you leave a brief comment at the bottom to get the collaborative juices flowing?