A Thankful Woman's Journey...

This year's vacation plans were changed at the last minute due to unforeseen pressures from work. As the flow of life unfolded, it appears that I simply needed rest and relaxation. After four days away from the office, I finally feel human. My attachments to email, phone calls, meetings are beginning to fade. The last days of my vacation, I don't email, phone anyone or attend meeting. The pressures of these activities are only memories. I am simply relaxing. What took me so long? Why do I fill every minute with my day with meetings, emails, and phone calls. Even on vacation, it was extremely difficult to relax on day one, day two and even day three. As a matter of fact, I spent the first day of my vacation reading and answering 500 emails. How sad!! How did I fall into this state? When did work become such an electronic burden? Americans have become slaves to work and technology. We don't take the time to share a cup of tea with a neighbor or simply w...

Years ago, I was guilty of critizing leaders of colleges, churches, state government, federal government and of course our presidents. I also ran from leadership simply because I did not want to deal with people and the problems that they created. Slowly, but surely, leadership chased me and 18 years ago, I became a leader. As soon as I sat in the chair of a leader, I realized that the job was not as easy as I had imagined. Today, I realize that leadership involves a tremendous knowledge base and the power to influence people. A good leader does not force people or trick people into following their agendas. The hallmark of a great leader is someone who is trustworthy. My question after 18 years of community college leadership is this very important question. Have I been fair, firm and consistent in my affairs with the people that I have led?

There is, in my opionion, no fair comparison on the lives of Michael Jackson and the legendary anchor newsperson, Walter Cronkite. The lives were different and can not be compared; as a result, I had anticipated that the news coverage would be totally different. The news coverage on Michael continued for weeks after his untimely death and was extremely negative. I believe, and my opion is more than likely bias, that bad news makes money for our pseudo news reports and cable news stations. Walter Cronkite's news was clear, concise and very informative. Compared to the over exposed coverage we receive on cable, Mr. Cronkite's news delivery was an art and it does appear that it is now a dying art form. To be honest with you, I have grown tired of sensational news coverage of Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, Brittany Spears, etc. etc. etc. This type of pseudo news continues because it makes money and the public love it. If we demanded more from our newspapers and cable ...

Several years ago I began to make an assessment of the contributions that I had made to society. By far, I had fallen short in the area of education. My ancestors died in order that I may have a better way of life. They were involved in civic affairs, church, the community, and of course education. What contribution had I made to education? Above all, what contributions have I made to society? These questions began to eat away at the core of my soul. Instead of being depressed about my complacency, I took action. For the part decades, my conversations with friends and colleagues have centered around the state of our students in post secondary education. Since the community college systems have an open door policy, thousands of students enter these halls of higher education; however, far too many thousands become stuck in developmental courses. What are we doing to remove them from the developmental block outs? We raise the bar and create more effective education systems. It s...