|
Today's Featured Biography
David Keele
Someone once told me that you should never trust a man over the age of fifty who did not limp. Well, I am over fifty and I limp. I don't know if that means that you can trust me, but it does mean that at least once in my life, I pushed the limits and the limits pushed back. I tried to achieve to a level beyond my abilities and I paid a price for it. In fact, I have attempted and experienced things like that on more than one occasion. However, that does not necessarily mean that I tried and failed, even though it is a pretty good indicator that I at least stumbled and fell a few times. Stumbling and falling is a part of the process of being born to gray hair and wisdom.
The Rev. Robert Schuller said, "Success is never certain. Failure is never final." The fact that success is never certain means that we should be in anticipation of stumbling from time to time, and maybe even falling. I have skinned my knees on a number of occasions. However, the fact that I have managed to get up and keep on trudging is that which, for me, has kept failure from being final.
I believe that it is our struggles with failure, while campaigning for success that constitute the elements which foster wisdom. I won't say that I am a wise man, but as many times as I have fallen and gotten back up again, I surely should be. Whether I am or not is for someone else to judge.
If you should care to judge, let me present some additional facts for your consideration before you do.
I live in Corvallis, Oregon, the home of Oregon State University. I am a mentor and scholastics coach for a number of students, not only at Oregon State University, but also at various institutions around the country and the world. In this age of Skype and Webcams, proximity is no longer an issue.
I was born and raised in west central Missouri. At that time, it was the land of Baptists, Bibles, and Harry S. Truman. I did not remain there. That's why I am in Oregon today. However, it has been said that as the twig is bent, the tree inclines. These were the prevailing winds of my youth.
I have been described as an over educated Hillbilly of Pioneer Stock. I have come to understand that an over educated hillbilly is one who knows that “ya’ all" is singular, and that the plural form is "all ya'all." So far as being "of Pioneer Stock" is concerned, my family history supports that statement. My grandfather was a contemporary of Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp. My grandfather was five years older than Billy the Kid, and Wyatt Earp outlived him by four years. In addition, I have a great great great great great grandfather by the name of John Stewart. He was the first white man killed by Pawnee Indians in what is now the State of Kentucky. His wife, my great-times-five grandmother, was Daniel Boone's youngest sister, Hannah. I proudly claim my Pioneer heritage.
I have a particular fondness for telling stories, especially stories that teach a lesson or that have some special relevance. One such story that I enjoy telling is that of three men:
The first man was named Dan. He was the son of J. D. and Elizabeth. Elizabeth had a sister. Her name was Henrietta. She married a man by the name of Thomas. They had a son named Ralph. Since their mothers were sisters, Dan and Ralph were cousins. Ralph's father, Thomas, had a brother named John. John married a girl by the name of Martha. John and Martha had a son. His name was Harry. Since their fathers were brothers Harry and Ralph were cousins. However, Harry and Dan were not related to each other at all, even though they had a cousin in common.
Harry was Harry S. Truman, President of the United States. His cousin, Ralph, was Maj. Gen. Ralph E. Truman, Commander of the 35th Infantry Division during World War II. Ralph’s cousin, Dan, was a barber in Sedalia, Missouri and my grandfather.
Is this a great country, or what?
That story is relevant to us, all of us, because in this country anyone can be President, even the first cousin of my first cousin-twice-removed.
My favorite quotation is this one from William James:
"The greatest revolution of our generation is the awareness that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."
Truth is as you find it. The truth is attitude is the suit of armor we put on when we sally forth to do battle with the world. It also determines how the world confronts and responds to us. Attitude can either be sand paper or a lubricant. It determines the degree of ease with which we pass through life. I have found that when the going gets rough, a change in attitude can make a big difference.
More about me:
• I am a published writer and author -- economist, poet, philosopher (of the Cracker Barrel variety), and all round observer of the human condition. You can check out one of my books through one of the booksellers in your local mall, or on-line. It is entitled, Three Pairs of Shoes and a Bundle of Books. Other books such as, The Impact of Schools on the Substance Abuse Behaviors of At-Risk Students: A Study of the Students’ Perspective, which is 200 pages of graphs and statistics, are far too technical for the general reading public.
• I am a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
• I am a member of the Boone Society; an organization comprised primarily of the descendants of George Boone III, the first of the Boone’s to come to America and the grandfather of Daniel Boone.
• I hold two Masters Degrees, one in Economics, and one in Educational Leadership and Curriculum Design.
• I have taught college.
• I was an Economics Researcher for the Federal Reserve Banking System.
• I am a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the National Honors Society in Economics.
• I am a member of Gamma Theta Upsilon, the National Society of Professional Geographers.
• I am a past-member of the Forest Products Research Society.
• I have held top-management positions within divisions of some of the largest companies in the hardwood lumber distribution, and hardwood plywood and door manufacturing industries in the country.
• I am experienced in communicating and strategizing with difficult students. I taught in a "gang school" program in South-central Los Angeles for a number of years. During these years that I was involved with the youth of these neighborhoods on an individual basis. When walking the streets of South-Central, I felt protected and safe. I was welcomed into the homes of my students’ parents. Also, I taught in a diagnostics classroom, behind bars, for the California Youth Authority. I was responsible for assessing student performance and identifying the educational needs of students at the time of their arrival into the institutional system. In addition, I taught classes designed to assist paroling offenders in taking responsibility for past offenses, and then to successfully transition into mainstream society. During the years that I was teaching these classes, parolee recidivism rates fell significantly.
• While with the California Youth Authority, I served as a “first response” grief counselor, assisting students in the aftermath of events of student suicide. These events occurred all too frequently.
• I have taught parenting classes for programs operated under the auspices of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for various Foster Parent training programs, and in special programs for the parents of adolescent children, at a time when their children were in drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
• I was a certified Foster Parent.
• I was a certified drug and alcohol counselor. (In the State of California)
• I presently serve as Resident Advisor for a social fraternity on the campus of a major state university. (I said “Social Fraternity.” I did not say “Zoo.”) I have been elected to membership in the Alumni Chapter of that Fraternity.
• I have served as an advisor and consultant on matters of youth and juvenile justice to various government agencies and boards, including the Los Angeles City Council, the Juvenile Division of the Public Defender’s Office in a number of California counties, as well as to juvenile and family court judges. I have been called upon to testify as an expert witness or as a “friend of the court” in matters concerning the adjudication of cases related to juvenile justice. As well, I was called upon to consult with a Special Taskforce that reported only to the then President-elect of the United States on matters related to youth and urban gangs.
• I have coached and mentored adolescents and young adults from all walks of life, who have gone on to have happy, successful, and rewarding lives and careers.
VIEW ALL BIOGRAPHIES
|
Indicates an included photo
