If I could choose a new profession other than teaching, I would still settle on this one. From my high school days when I first studied Government and World History, I have always looked forward to what might come next in focused study. Helping students understand the joys of learning have been my professional and personal goals throughout my career and never have I seen them diminish. Receiving my graduate degrees (both Masters and Ph.D in International Studies) provided me with opportunities to know the world personally, to see it up close, and in the bargain to find the most effective ways to help students follow similar paths, if not fields of study. I have traveled extensively in Europe, Russia, and many countries most haven't imagined (Cuba), as well as throughout the United States. Along the way it has been my privilege to meet thousands of people in classrooms, through field work, and government settings, people who hail from cultures different than my own, and to attempt to communicate in differing languages, all of this bringing so much excitement to what I do. These are the experiences of enrichment with which I seek to challenge my students no matter their ages (from those in their early teens to individuals successfully capping off their late seventies). It has been especially important to familiarize myself of students' goals and help them on the paths to achieving all they might in their next chapters. Life should be well-lived and never permitted to grow old or stale. Continuing toward these pursuits has been rewarding such as no others wedded to the desire to help others (such as through youth programs and the Red Cross), writing for pleasure, reading for the pure joy of the act, and studying the physical world of which we are always a part.