Greener Pastures

I Began My Teaching Career As An Assistant Elementary School Teacher And Worked My Way Through The Ranks Until My Graduation First From The Government Teachers' College And Then From The University Of Guyana In 1979. I Was Then Appointed As A Graduate Mistress At Queen'S College And Served As Both Classroom Teacher And Department Chair Until My Migration To The United States In 1984. I Also Worked As An Examiner For The Caribbean Examination Council (Cxc) Grading Both English 1 (English Composition) And English 11 (Literature) Papers. During The Years Of Teaching In Guyana My Creative Outlet Was The Short Story Or Play. I Gave These To Friends Who Taught At Other Schools And Who Used Them Either For Their Own Entertainment Or For End-Of-Semester Elebrations. Very Little Of These Early Creative Explorations Have Survived. Despite Those Early Explorations And My Conviction That Teaching Was Going To Be My Life-Long Vocation I Have Shared With My Students That I Did Not Always Envision Teaching Composition As My Area Of Specialization And That I Only Began Teaching Composition Because I Hated The Way People Of My Generation Were Taught Math. I Have Confessed To Students That Since English Was My Second Best Subject I Majored In English By Default. Much Later I Discovered Creative Writing Served Me As A Form Of Therapy.