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By all accounts, the year I turned two began my fascination with words. The first book I read was “Tikki Tikki Tembo,” a book that today has been the subject of controversy. For me, the sound of my grandmother’s voice reciting “Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo” will forever echo brightly in my mind, with the result that reading and writing and listening are all one to me. The importance of this book for writing concerns my first steps.

My initial foray into writing occurred when I was four and wrote  multiple big ‘T’s’ in crayon on my bedroom wall, following behind my mother who was wallpapering it. When she turned around and saw my work…I repeated Tikki Tikki Tembo’s full name over and over, cackling like a hyena. I think she wanted to burn that book.

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Love of language expanded to include writing in high school - at the same time I was developing my entrepreneurial skills. A discerning and caring English teacher caught me writing essays for my friends for cash. (Don’t judge me. I have two words: young and dumb.)

Instead of ratting me out to my mother, a teacher in the same district, she gave me a choice: I would not receive the writing award that year - a prestigious award I knew was a slam dunk, OR, she could give me the award, but tell my mother. Faced with two unhappy consequences, not to mention being lectured on the importance of acquiring a moral academic code, I became a model of rehabilitation. No seriously! Fear is a powerful motivator, so Mom never found out, but watching my rival accept the award instead of me was excruciating.

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Freshman year: I learned I was not as gifted as I had been led to believe. Ego crushed, I began anew. By my senior year, my thinking skills had matured - a prerequisite for improved writing. Still, my writing felt uninspired. I knew the rules, the formulas, but focus on audience eluded me.

Probably because I was more interested in a certain young man with wavy black hair and - that’s another story.

One takeaway from my undergrad days was the realization that not everyone can read and write. I tutored other students as part of my sorority’s service program, and I discovered a fellow student could not read and could barely write his name. Apparently, with basketball skills, you don’t need abilities the rest of us mortals require to get through life.

Simultaneously appalled and resentful, I still attempted to help him with his classes, but failed. He just wanted someone to do the work for him and - yeah - THAT wasn’t going to happen again. We weren’t even friends. But, the idea of a grown person who could not read and write - and a college student no less - boggled my mind.  It made me think about the ease with which I completed assignments and it made me want to understand what it felt like to not be able to do that.

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Morehead State University - Technology: 2001-2005

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Morehead State University - Technology: 2001-2005

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Nothing changed for a long time. Then, I met Dr. Ahmad Zargari. I was teaching writing, and I wanted to earn a master’s degree in Education. I met with Dr. Zargari in the tech dept., wanting to take a technology class, and at the end of the meeting, I had changed my major to technology.

Honestly, I’m not sure why I did that. A quirky elf with a thick Arabic accent, irrepressible smile, and small dent in his skull courtesy of a bullet caught during his escape from Iran in the 70s,  Dr. Zargari nearly charmed me into abandoning my teaching career to enter private industry. Luckily, I remembered three magic words of my own: June, July, and August.

His influence and his belief that I could do something productive with writing inspired me to tackle research-based writing - and graduate-level Statistics - a class that taught me the true meaning of pain and humility. The experience underscored the limits of my mathematical skills in Stark. Graphic. Detail.

Research writing is (dramatic pause) the most fun I’ve ever had writing. You think I’m kidding. My greatest achievement to date was that technology thesis. I scaled that mountain. It’s called EVEREST I have decided.

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The happiest I’ve ever been in school. In my hubris, I mistakenly believed I had nothing new to learn about writing. Then I met Sarah Fedirka.
😁
Right. Moving on.

The MARW program has sharpened my critical thinking, expanded my ability to say exactly what I mean, and given me additional skills to teach my high school classes. Writing - above all - is the conveyance of ideas to others. Those ‘others’ are often unseen, but are the most important element of the entire process.