As of March 2025:
Colleges and Universities
Degree conferred:
Master of Science in Homeland Security, Organizational Leadership Concentration |
Wilmington University [GPA estimate over 3.8]
Bachelor of Science in Political Science | Towson University
Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice | California Coast University [GPA 4.0]
AA | Community College of Baltimore [Maryland] County (CCBC)
Attended:
Carnegie Mellon
City Colleges of Chicago
Professional/Certificates/Trade School
Introduction to [Computer] Networking Certificate, Allegany College of MD; 1/2008
Website Design Certificate, The Computer Trainer, 1999
Education enhancement
The Threat of Nuclear Terrorism, Stanford University Online via edX.org; January
2021, completed score 100%
u.lab: Leading From the Emerging Future, MIT/ Presencing Institute via edX.org and
live classes fusion [audit]; Fall of 2021
Other educational undertakings
Emphasis on English language skills from early childhood years
Private school from elementary through high school
Learned a number of elements of Arabic; studied/study a number of languages including Italian, Farsi, and Russian
Computer and website building training
Environmental coursework; professional experience
Other post high school education attainments
Timeline and thoughts:
One of the aspects that potentially determine whether individuals want to interact and do business with another individual, is ascertaining what really happened in the entirety of the timeline of an individual's life. Especially in the area of work experience, education, and noble undertakings such as volunteering for a good cause.
To illustrate, what is not looked for is a person that claims a college degree and has only 2 or 3 job positions listed on a resume or bio page, to give a number, at 60 years old; the job positions accounted for a total of 10 years of the person's life, and the degree was a pay for certificate online, where in actuality, the person only took 2 or 3 college courses in the lifetime. It might look 'good' at first on the resume, to highlight a B.S. degree, and a clean list of just a few relevant jobs mentioned, but the questions stand out, who is this person?, and what did he do for the other 50 years of life? If it turns out if the individual was leading a life of crime, it might not be a candidate ideal to work with after all.
That being said, there are about 4 years of unaccounted time on my public bio/s in the education aspect. Those times were spent starting with 1992, 2 years at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, and about a cumulative of 2 years at Catonsville Community College, later subsumed and renamed into the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC).
CMU did not materialize as the most successful undertaking in terms of completion of a degree and overall grades; however, admittance to the university was at least in part the result of relatively strong academic performance in high school with no major behavioral incident; the precursor to that was a reasonably stable performance in grade school, and the same story, no drama, no fights, no drugs. There were also hundreds of individuals that helped me in the overall effort, teachers, bus drivers, advisors, coaches, other students, other students' parents, ROTC educators, cadre, and more.
In 1995, I went to City Colleges of Chicago, also known as Loop College, for the first part of the year, and Catonsville Community College the second part of the year. There may have been a mixed bag of hot and not so hot grades. From 1992 through 1995 there may have been advents in life which may have discrepant opinions whether they were assists to development or burdens, guidances which built, added or detracted, of course opinions may depend on the turnout. Had the turnout been all flowers, there might not be any complaint. Hence, advents affected the education career. Notwithstanding, the pursuit of education continued after 4 semesters at CMU including 4 semesters of ROTC. Included in that are experiences and development. Altogether, by the time I started attending Towson University, I had at least 3 years of college/university study, and a website design certificate under my belt. I did not for conversation point's sake, suddenly arrive at Towson, breeze through the courses, and walked out with a degree,- there was a process that was involved.
In summary, there is some holdback on presenting attendance to CMU, CCC, and CCBC on social media sites like Linkedin and brief resumes, in the general strategy of not lime lighting what can be subject to scrutinizing academic records; however, there are numerous positives during the span, hundreds of pages of papers written, books read, films seen, moreover networking fulfilled or potential, and lets viewers of the profile know what I was doing, funds spent and costs on education (estimated around $100,000), and where my efforts were going.
Roughly 20% of the material being readied for a collection of global health and societal studies, as it stands now comprising about 17,000 pages, was collected during the years 1992 to 1995.
Real conversation about ROTC concurrent Civil Engineering curriculum attendance:
Even in perfect economic, academic, and sociological conditions, to roll through 4 years at any of Carnegie Mellon's engineering programs with a 4.0 GPA is extremely hard to do. To do so while attending ROTC at the fullest, and successfully graduating the program en route becoming commissioned as an officer, is of course even more difficult.
People might have notions in their mind, that the expectation of ROTC students is to spend 4 years of college, and a few months after graduation, be commissioned as an officer. And 30 or 100 students graduate each year from each college. Perhaps back in the 1940s and 50s, this occurred with some famous generals.
The reality is, back in the early and mid 1990s, the Panther Battalion as it was known, only graduated an average of about 5 to maybe 7 students per year, as in graduated from either University of Pittsburgh, CMU, or other college that participated in the referent consortium , and became commissioned.
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The following is a draft, to be edited and rearranged later. Some areas might have already been discussed.
Addressing summer of 1992 to the start of year 2000. What happened?
After graduating high school, which was fortunate, and with gracious help, I started out in the civil engneering double major EPP program, with the idea of an environmental emphasis, at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA), as a full time student. Often considered a 5 year program (not the standard 4). Fall semester of 1992.
Advent midway through semester, father's mentor made the behest to get Involved wth ROTC program.
I started doing what other ROTC participants were doing in that aspect, but at non-scholarship, basically I was not beng paid.
Tution at CMU expensive.
I had a part-time job then at the Computer Store at CMU.
In summary, 4 or 5 courses for civil engineering, plus how ever many courses for ROTC, plus ROTC morning exercise commitments (PT), plus the job, plus on a restricted diet, no personal car, resulted in plenty of experiences which may have been helpful in a way or so, but the grades at CMU engineering courses did not show well. The equation of the commitments was well beyond absurd, and no one was to be expected to do well doing that; frankly, no one else was.
The following semester, spring of 1993, I was asked to quit my job at the Computer Store to get better grades, which I did, but was left dangerously without shoe money. ROTC non-scholarship, and full-time study continued.
At some point, while all this was going on, their was a latenly to mildly formed MSA at the university, and tajweed (how to pronounce Quran correctly) study offered at nearby masajid. There was my effort to participate and partake of the learning offers as doable.
At some point came a behest from my father's mentor, to quit MSA altogether and be on do not communicate terms, and quit taking tajweed courses.
What then evolved was a day to day, only ROTC and civil engneering/epp curriculum course load.
Full time .. courses overlapped ROTC in time blocks, and neither set of courses work was as successful as ideal.
Ramifications included missing breakfast sometimes, I don't recall the exact details, but it seemed like 5 out of 7 days a week(?). Tens of thousands of dollars, some of it tax payers' money, went to pay for courses where the result was bleak to even nonexistent.
There was a 1 semester hiatus after spring 1993 at CMU before I returned in fall of 1994. In the summer of 1993, I worked for a computer store in northern Virginia. During the time I would have been studying in the fall semester of 1993, I worked several jobs, including a number of temporary services, where I gained skill in administrative, data entry area, in the effort to build up funds to pay and return to CMU.
4 semesters of civil engineering et al related courses, and 4 concurrent semesters of ROTC.
The start of 1995, was undertaking study at City Colleges of Chicago, courses relevant to civil engineering et al.
I wound up sprung out the planned living arrangement.
Worked to support myself during the semester. Greenpeace, mayor run staff member, ETIS International got started.
By the way, there were some now viewed as tenuous participation in martial art study in Pittsburgh through the 1 semester stay in Chicago.
I went to Catonsville Community College (which in more recent years became subsumed into the Community College of Baltimore County system), effort of environmenta/engineering related study, did ok in at least one course; but that semester about midway through, the education experience started headng toward disaster. Advent and/or advents, someones emergency needs all your funds, driving at inordinate speeds on the roads trying to cover the bases of work, school, and ministering to others personal emergencies under color of loyalty to religious commitments.
From about 1996 to near year 2000, I was in service to the US government.
-Has to show -- pretend like you weren't going to school so investgation into your education career doesn't show negative marks; dodge investigation. 3 years flushed down the drain, or so it could seem, if let to. Then subsequent 3 years flushed down the drain. A total of 6 to 8 years, unaccounted for, and allow people with evil schemes to paint up a picture comprised of run-of-the-mill truancy?
[Perhaps somewhat contrary to how a number of resumes appeared, I did not suddenly appear in the DMV area (of DC) about year 2000, and with no work history or college education, intended and commenced to start working the bottom rung of landscaping.]
Some of what when on honestly was haram, forbidden.
It is not the law, the fard, the sunnah, the Torah, etc., to take '4 courses' and be a full-tme student at an American accredited university once past 18 years old, nevermind 4 courses and ROTC and and...
I have no idea what I would have turned out to be, looked like, smelled like, mental functioning level and capacity, physiology, in the crucial years of development age 19-21, had I eaten a healthy breakfast consistently, lunch consistently, dinner consistently at reasonable times, 4 food groups, and rested at a reasonable time, at least most of the time, say on or before 10:45pm.
A hiring manager is looking over a resume and sees a 3 to 6 years void in education, and --- and then a 2 to 4 yr gap in employment; how does that get interpreted? Was the person on dope, truancy, in rehabalitation, living a life of crime, engaged in an illegal and illicit trade in another country and tryng to keep it a secret? They don't know. Addressing it. Separate the facts from rumors from stereotypes.
Some of the behaviors by some of the 'students' in the Pittsburgh, PA are were 'beyond abhorent' [back between 1992-1994]. Activities like playing music in the dorms during study and rest times so loudly it caused permanent damage to the cellular makeup of the brain, affecting the mind, surely for a number of students.
As a recourse, I took my textbooks to the masjid about 2 miles down the street to do assignments, readings, study after hours. That semester made the Dean's list.
Then came the behest to stop that.
Subsequent, grades were not the hottest, and maybe the Utopian 4 years after high school education career did not wind up with a 4.0 gpa and piece of paper that said degree on it. However, it was in the process of an education career which eventually materialized with at least some good.
~
Undermining education of youth, -- that's illegal; lawmakers know those kinds of events can develop and set laws to protect youth here in the USA.
~
Discussion:
If and when you see a normal student, he or she behaves well, they are going to classes, going to work, they earn enough to cover tuition, books, housing, food, basic fees like identification card and a pair shoes, but they are noticeably dropping weight, unable to focus because they haven't eaten right, and receiving an unusually high volume of phone calls, possibly email, texts, etc., and have to rush off and tend to emergencies that really either aren't their personal problem, or inappropriate for their age range, call 9-1-1.
Referent phone calls that are comprised of people talking students saying, we are the people close to you that support you, your tight network, you must help us so we can help you, make that sacrifice, lots of blessings; and it turns out the money is eventually or ultimately going to feed drug habits of individuls 2 and 3 times the student's age.
Salient are the pizza delivery boy scheme, young men that are at the age of just getting out high school, maybe they have scholarship or stipend, and hey are asked to work hours like until 4am every morning to help with funding something something related to a religious need, for instance, badly needed repairs to the prayer hall, the mortgage on the prayer center is about to get the sructure in foreclosure unless we get your money and the pizza delivery money, the leader is old and sick, your uncle's family needs the money back at home in his village across the Atlantic or Pacific, or the new oppressive government will try to eliminate him and his family. And guys 18 to 20 years old are riding around at 4am delivering food, so tired they can barely see and even stand up, not eating enough to keep their pants on their waist.
Instead of paying for tuition or miscelennous vehicle related vagares, the student is bombarded with messages and cues to, go ahead drive on an expired driver license or no insurance, and if you get arrested that's ok, you've made a great spiritual sacrifice, drive to me with all the money you just made, your scholarship funds, tuition assistance, gift money, cash in an envelope.
That 100 or 200 dollars a student finally got a hold of is so badly needed to keep a religious group going, those funds needed to keep a young man or woman in good standing, in school, and out of jail-. A religious order that's been in existence or 1000 or 2000 or 3000 years, really needs a 19 year old's $100 to sustain? A 100 pound 20 year old does not have the place to feed a 50 year old's drug habit who also can't get a job, so the student is feeding the predator food, dope, and the tools to continue evading the law.
Briefly, no money, no dues paid, no sufi group membership, is what young fellas, students are told sometimes; (sometimes in reality, unfortunately are schemes that have nothing to do with the institution).
Some students wind up having their car overturned on the highway, while en route catering to evil intentions, -that doesn't matter too much to the drug addict; the most important thing is he or she found a manipulative way to get to the next few ounces of a chemical to ingest.
These scenarios in different forms have happened, happen all over the USA. Maybe it is not as severe as being a victim of human trafficking, but the ramifications of kids old enough to be an adult on legal technicality, but young enough for that threshold to be a part of the exploitative practice, has drastic impacts, from the individual to the larger group, short term and long term.
What's really going on is the student is being used, deceived, and abused, while not quite old enough to tower over the situaton yet and make that assessment.
The process of undermining a kid's educaton. The bigger pcture is that students whose education careers get undermined adds up, and it weakens the US workforce, defense, economy.