Celebrating Ten Years of Teaching

“To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner. I am not a teacher, only a fellow student.” — Søren Kierkegaard Inspired by the quote above (which is the anchor of my teaching philosophy), I have been learning while teaching for a decade. Ten years ago today — on Monday, June 18, 2007 — I began my career in academia when I started teaching COM 120, Effective Persuasive Writing online at what was then called Axia College (University of Phoenix‘s online junior college). It’s hard to believe that much time has passed; it feels like just yesterday when I began…

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12 Months, 12 Memories: My First Year in Dubai

On September 8, 2014 I opened for Lady Gaga. Well, not exactly: I landed in Dubai, UAE a few hours before Lady Gaga also arrived in Dubai for a concert at the Meydan Racecourse (on September 10). And so began my expat adventure as a full-time business professor. In the 12 months since I have exponentially grown personally and developed professionally. While I had previously traveled internationally, my experience was limited mostly to short trips to a handful of countries. Those early overseas trips certainly exposed me to a more global perspective, but living overseas has allowed me to experience a…

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A California Yankee in Sheikh Mohammed’s Court

“Welcome to Dubai.” After flying 9,357 miles from LAX and traveling for nearly 22 hours — including an almost 4 hour delay in Dulles (IAD) — I had arrived at Dubai International Airport (DXB) the evening of September 8, 2014. Coincidentally Lady Gaga  arrived that evening for her first UAE concert ever. Beginning a two year contract as a full time Lecturer in the College of Business Administration at Jumeira University, I awaited a brave new world of professional development  and personal growth. One quick month later, I have experienced that and more. Below are three of my initial  impressions — aka “teachable moments” — from my first month in Dubai. Each…

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