This I Believe

The following is an essay I wrote and submitted to the "This I Believe" series at NPR.org. I'm a big fan of public radio, and when they resurrected the idea from Edward R. Murrow's original in the 1950's, I couldn't resist.


I believe my Dad was right when he told me to go back to school for an advanced degree.

My Dad was born above a butcher shop in Detroit in 1931. He worked hard, fought hard in Korea, and believed hard in his Catholic faith. Both his military service and his religious faith gave him great comfort during the long battle with cancer that ended him. It took eight years. It was during those difficult years that he told me, more than once, “Son, if you can go all the way and get a doctorate, you should.” He was trying to pass on his belief that education leads to success and a happy life.

When my father died, I decided to go back to school to get that doctorate. I studied hard, thought hard, and worked hard. It took me four years. After graduating I accepted a year-long post-doc position doing research. These kinds of positions are meant to be temporary, transitory jobs in preparation for a career in academia or in industry. I was using my education, innovating, contributing, and helping people in a unique way.

Today marks one year since I finished that research position. I have been unemployed and looking for work for well over fourteen months now. I believe that I have never felt more useless. I have a computer spreadsheet on the number of recruiters, the number of applications, and the number of interviews I’ve had. I stopped counting about three months ago. Although recruiters love my background, hiring managers tell me that having an advanced degree makes be “not a good fit” for industry. I’m overeducated for an entry-level position and too inexperienced for a management position.

I think my father would be surprised at how difficult it’s been for me to find a job. In his generation, a college degree was a ticket to white collar success and suburban bliss. Perhaps his belief in hyper-education was more about his personal experience than about some core truth. In my experience, I see many successful and happy people who have nowhere near the education I have. Take for example Bill Gates, or Sam Walton, or President George W. Bush.

Even though it’s been difficult to swallow my pride and to continue to search for the right fit in industry, I do believe that my father was right. I didn’t go back to school to get a job. I went back for myself. I went back for what my father believed because I believe it too. And I am happier now because of it. Today I have no job, but my mind is clear on what I want that job to be and full of ideas on how to get there. Most of all, I believe my father would be very, very proud of me.

Spain 2006 Part III: Touring the Millennia with Great Friends

After taking a city bus to catch the bus from Granada to Sevilla, and then another city bus to transfer to the other bus station in Sevilla, we finally reached Mérida, well, by bus. Once there, we joyfully reunited with our friend Rafa Ruiz Fuente. Rafa and Sacra Blanco had traveled all the way from Spain to join us on our wedding day in Colorado, and we were thrilled to check out their local digs West of Madrid in Navalmoral de la Mata. Before driving to their home, however, we spent the evening in Mérida stepping back in time to the height of the Roman Empire. The ruins in Mérida of the amphitheater and adjacent theater were astonishing. Magnificent. It was easy to imagine the Gladiator games in the amphitheater. The theater next door, although apparently not as popular in the day as the gory amphitheater events, looked like the Greek theater on steroids. (Also, they were preparing for opening night of the annual theater festival. What a treat!)



After a quick tour of the museum, Rafa drove us back to his home. We were thrilled to finally meet Silvia, Sacra and Rafa’s one year old daughter. Such a cutie! She melted our American hearts with her adorable imitation of a mouse, a lion, and a frog.



The next morning, Rafa showed us the school where he works as a PE teacher in Losar de la Vera and then his newly purchased land near Jarandilla (de la Vera). We were blown away with his fruit orchard: grapes, apples, oranges, kiwis, you name it! However, Rafa my friend, your new home needs some work. After marveling at Rafa’s plans for the estate, we spent a lazy afternoon in Jarandilla and in the pools by the Roman bridge past Losar.



The next day Rafa drove us to two incredible cities that saw their best days in the middle ages – Trujillo and Cáceres. Once again, we were romanced by these charming, picturesque, and ornate cities. As Rafa said, we half expected a knight in shining armor to ride around the corner and announce the Royal Court. ¡Soy un Conquistador! Both Kristin and I felt like Trujillo, with its charming streets, historic landmarks, and grand vistas, was exactly the kind of town we hoped Granada to be. Unfortunately, Trujillo is easily a three hour drive from an international airport. The first picture is from Trujillo, and the other is from Cáceres.



Finally, to close out our tour of the Extremadura region of Spain, we needed an up-close look at the Toro silhouettes! Rafa gave us an incredible picture of one as a wedding gift, and he wanted us to see it in person. These large bull-shaped billboards are left over from an ad campaign for alcohol, but people loved them so much they were painted over and left in place. After another wonderful evening with Rafa, Sacra, and Silvia, we did a little shopping in Navalmoral before bussing back to Sevilla. We couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing or scenic visit, and we owe it all to our incredible hosts. We enjoy your company wherever we are in the world! (As a parting gift, Sacra gave Kristin beautiful amber earrings, and we couldn’t resist a little University push for Silvia…)



We spent our final couple of nights back in Barrio Santa Cruz in Sevilla, eating and shopping. We visited Kristin’s old haunts including a brief return to her host family’s apartment (but Kristin couldn’t remember the number!). What did we buy? Well, you’ll just have to wait for the Christmas season to find out… Oh, by the way: Were you counting? That would be fourteen busses in twelve days. Next time we’re renting a car!

Spain 2006 Part II: Spain’s Pomegranate

We flew to Sevilla for a quick night and jumped on a three-hour bus for Granada the next morning. When we arrived at our hotel, the reception told us that the air conditioning was broken in our room. They automatically upgraded us to the suites literally smack in front of the Cathedral. Kristin’s celebrity pays off again! Er. Wait. [Aside: We learned that the word “salada” in Spain means “witty, amusing, attractive, and charming.” Unfortunately, in the Americas, “salada” means “unlucky, unfortunate.” Since Salada is not from the Spanish language, we take it to mean “one whose ancestors are from the Salada family who on occasion experience good luck when traveling.”] Here was the view out our front window in Granada:



We decided to stroll up the Carrera del Darro, a street made famous by impressionist painters in the late 1800’s. After eating a sunset-lit dinner literally beneath the Alhambra on Paseo de los Tristes, we stumbled upon the city’s annual outdoor film festival in Plaza Nueva. I think we caught a good fifteen minutes of Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin before finally returning to our suite.



After a restless night of sleep (Spain is loud!), we took a walking city tour in the morning. Our guide spoke first in English, and then in Spanish. ¡Práctica buena! He took us through the old Moorish silk district which is now a major tourist market, then by the Cathedral, up through the Albacín neighborhood and then back down the River Darro. After a siesta, us crazy kids ventured back through the Albacín, all the way up the ridge opposite the Alhambra. Our mission was to explore for potential future second home sites. We saw some beautiful homes with incredible views.



Our quest took us all the way up past the old Moorish wall into new home developments that looked very American. They were like ghost towns – no stores, no noise, no people. ¡Que raro en España!


Feet so tired. Cold Cruzcampo calling. The next day we explored more neighborhoods, including trying to find the charming streets I remembered from a previous visit to no avail. In the end, we both felt kind of disappointed by Granada – it’s much larger, louder, and busier than we had hoped for. Granada’s ideal location in Southern Spain would seem to make it a perfect second home and we were hoping to fall in love. And well, we really liked it. No really. Really?

Spain 2006 Part I: London Calling

“You’re Richard Rodriguez.” Kristin recognized our ticket attendant at the airport in Boston as an ex-counselor from her days as director of the YMCA Ponkapoag Day Camp. Apparently he was so pleased with the blast-from-the-past that he bumped us up to business class for the trip to London. W00t! Kristin’s celebrity pays off! Our holiday afoot in England began with a visit to Josh and Viv Spoerri’s house near the Hampstead Heath in North London. Our hosts were so generous, so gracious. They shared their beautiful home with us while we experienced a thoroughly pleasing side of the city that neither of us had explored before. We were enchanted to meet the newest addition to the Spoerri household, Steven. Isn’t this a great shot of the little guy?!



After a walk in the Heath (loverly) we took afternoon tea (read: pint) in the pub next door to the Spoerri’s house. We felt like true locals when a woman asked us to help with a crossword. Four-letter word for gambler’s bet? Chit. Ah, that’s my London! Room temperature ales!


Many, many thanks to Josh and Viv for hosting us. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet up with Sam and Rebecca in Wales. We did, however, commit our first act of international smuggling by dropping two pounds of Peet’s coffee in the local post for them. Sam and Rebecca: Those two were free; the next two pounds will be, shall we say, “market price.”