Meg and Beck are my life. We have a wonderful family and together we follow my grandmother's rule 18 - too blessed to be stressed. If you must know, our first date was at Cracker Barrell, and shows what an old soul I really am. At that dinner Meg told me to be brave, which is became Rule #2. Meg is a tenure-track assistant professor in Texas A&M's Health and Kinesiology Department. She is an awesome researcher and viral professor! She uses social network analysis to study how connections fuel our world. And Beck is soon-to-be four and has an incredibly sweet heart. He runs super fast, gives the best kisses, and truly seems to love other people. We love him so much. From my view, being a parent is most definitely an educational journey!
Outdoors. Competition. Integrity. Social-distancing! There is not better sport than golf. It is the only sport you can play (and be semi-competitive) across multiple generations. I have many fond memories playing with my grandfather Jimbo, my dad, and my brother. Playing on my high school golf team certainly contributed to the little identity I had in high school! In fact, I skipped class the first week of Baylor to attempt to walk-on to the golf team. I missed it by two shots. For me golf is all approaching the sport as a game, not a job. I am fortunate to have my 'golfing buddies'. Golf also teaches so much about life -- sometimes a perfectly struck shot bounces in the water and other times a long putt drops in by more luck than skill. Walking on a golf course is a way I recharge.
Reading has long been enjoyable to me because I can learn or dream with a book. I've read many of the classics, self-help/leadership, but my favorite books hands-down are by Louis L'Amour. He is described as writing historical fiction because of his deep background into historical archives or he actually wandered the land he wrote about. In short, my imagination is captured and transformed into what I read. Most of his books are westerns although he has written across many other settings. These books are filled with adventure and intrigue, strong male and female characters of all creed and race, and center around hardships that forge authentic traits like honesty, resilience, and friendship. I returned to these books during the hardship of COVID-19.
Upon reflection, I believe these are fairly representative of who I am. Responsibility and Context have interchanged each of the five times I've taken the inventory, which has now been over twenty years. My connectedness is influenced by my grandmother and now aids my interdisciplinary collaborations. Actually, Arranger and Intellectual appeared only after completing my dissertation and a professional transition to academic affairs! Other strengths that have surfaced over the years include Belief, Restorative, Consistency, and Harmony. Funny fact, I intentionally retook the test to get Harmony out of my top five but failed in that quest.
I've taken the test twice, with my results being ISFJ in 2019 and ISTJ several years ago, which I think is fairly consistent. INFJs "are typically innovators in their areas of interest." To me, that nails it. Much of my CTE work is in ambiguous areas where no roadmap exists. For example, we conceptualized a new transformative doctoral education model, are implementing a culture of mentoring initiative, and regularly wrestle with how to co-create power learning through interdisciplinary. Although J is consistent, I am fairly skewed because my "pressure-prompted" response aligns with P. Examples - my work with live bears & institutional initiatives.
To be clear, I have multiple education heroes in my
family: great-grandmother, grandmother, parents and in-laws, wife Megan, and even our son Beck
becoming me: Debra Fowler, Stephen Sloan, Martha Lou Scott, and Vince Clark
But with Professor Reid, it is just different. He's on both lists for me. He taught history at Baylor University for nearly 50 years, making the subject come to live for more than 22,000 students. He never married, never had any children, but transformed the lives of countless men and women. You're doing something right when someone names their child after you. At the latest count, I knew of nine for Professor Reid. He regularly had such a kind heart. I am much the better because he left his mark upon me.