Tucker Elliot

All over the world there are students, teachers and parents that face serious challenges every day. They need help with real problems that have life-altering consequences__nd a group of intelligent professionals brought together to advise and educate stakeholders in need of help ought to be able to do so without behaving like a middle school drama queen.

I said, __e parle français._ Indira gave me a weird look. Or a look that said I was weird. Whichever. The point is, I don__ really speak French, but it__ a useful phrase for confusing people you don__ wish to speak with. However, it__ apparently more useful in Europe, where no one enjoys speaking to the French.

The Delta agent saw my itinerary and said, 'You__e flying to Jakarta via Atlanta, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur? You must have really pissed off your travel agent.

I__ see the arrow. I__ think about attitude and perception. Maybe the green arrow on the ceiling is to Muslims as the KJV in the Motel 6 nightstand is to Christians.

As long as you know 'to let' means to rent and not a place to pee, you__e all set to travel in the UK. The lifts and the boots and everything else don__ really matter.

The night skyline was stunning. I could see the Monas and Istiqlal Mosque bathed in brilliant white lights and a dozen other places of cultural and historical significance. It__ an amazing, beautiful world we live in _ despite Uncle Google__ abysmal view of American schools, the security checkpoints and vehicle inspections that seem to be everywhere, and the need to be vigilant because of the things we do to each other.

The only thing I knew for sure is I hadn__ slept in ten years. Not really. I__ been fighting my own monster since nine months after 9/11. I had regrets. I had pain that I still can__ find words to describe. But sooner or later you have to make a choice. Maybe fate or luck or God had a plan for me in Jakarta that was greater than an educational leadership conference, a few papers and a book deal. If Vietnam was for Dad, then maybe Jakarta was for me. Indira says I shouldn__ discount that it was Allah__ plan. The way I see it, Allah__ plan is what started my war.

I thought, Dad.Could I go to Vietnam for you?Dad, I could do it. I could do it for you. I could go to the places you fought. I could find the bits and pieces of your heart and soul left behind. If I bring them back, would it heal your pain?Dad, you gave me life. You made possible every good thing in my life. Why do you insist on fighting your nightmares and memories and monsters alone?You don__ have to do it alone, Dad. I could help you fight.Dad, you know what?I__l be back before you find out so you don__ have to be afraid. I__ going to Vietnam.

In large part, we are teachers precisely because we remember what it was like to be a student. Someone inspired us. Someone influenced us. Or someone hurt us. And we__e channeled that joy (or pain) into our own unique philosophies on life and learning and we__e always looking for an opportunity to share them__ith each other, our students, parents, or in our communities.

The task of teaching has never been more complex and the expectations that burden teachers are carried out in antiquated systems that offer little support__nd yet, teachers are finding success every day.

There was a time we laughed at the old guys up on the hill. The ones who graduated a couple of years before us, and who would hang around the school and the ballpark still, and would sit on the hoods of their cars and tell us how when they were seniors they did it better, faster, and further. We laughed, because we were still doing it, and all they could do was talk. If our goals were not met, there was next year, but it never occurred to us that one day there would not be a next year, and that the guys sitting on the hoods of their cars at the top of the hill, wishing they could have one more year, willing to settle for one last game, could one day be us.

I spent half my childhood trying to be like my dad. True for most boys, I think. It turns with adolescence. The last thing I wanted was to be like my dad. It took becoming a man to realize how lucky I__ been. It took a few hard knocks in life to make me realize the only thing my dad had ever wanted or worked for was to give me a chance at being better than him.

America isn__ perfect but there__ not a better place in the world for people of any faith.

Some people have a heart to do evil and they don__ care if you__e Muslim or Christian.

My dad once told me that his biggest challenge after returning from Vietnam had been coming to terms with his own callousness. He__ made a deal with the war and traded his humanity for a ticket home.

We obviously don__ live in a perfect world. If we did, then my dad would never have volunteered for Vietnam so he could use the GI Bill to pay for college, Uncle Google would have more important things to do than searching for eight hundred million reasons why our schools suck, and I wouldn__ be at an education leadership conference in Jakarta because there__ be no need for it _ right?

Far to our left I could see a commercial airliner on final approach to Soekarno-Hatta. Far to our right I could see the outline of tall city buildings. The imagery was hard to ignore. In the midst was an impoverished world filled with dangerous radicals. Some believed it was God__ will to crash airplanes into buildings. Some recruited children to self-detonate on buses and in coffee shops. It must be incredibly difficult to hold fast to hope when you live in such a world. It__ also hard to keep faith with humanity when religious ideology is used as an impetus for war. But I also believe that for every war there is a hero _ and for me, Jakarta will always be Indira__ city.

We could never go back to how things were on the day before 9/11, but maybe I could go back to who I was.