In 1984 when I was 26 years of age, I left Guyana, a Caribbean country in northeast South America, to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. It was there I met my wife. Fast forward 40 years later, in April we took a trip to Guyana. This was our first trip back to the place of my birth and formative years.
Before the trip my wife and I discussed expectations. She said if she could see a manatee the trip would be successful. I had told her when I was young, I saw manatees quite often. I told her not only would she see many manatees, but she would also be able to touch them. She was all in. My expectations were different. I wanted to make connections with leaders at the University of Guyana and leaders and researchers at the Iwokrama Rainforest Research Center. I wanted to learn more about carbon sequestration, the pricing and sale of carbon credits and about sustainable logging of the rainforest. I also wanted to interview business leaders to learn how businesses were conducted in a developing country.
The trip was a success for both of us. She was able to touch many manatees and I was able to make many contacts at Iwokrama, the University of Guyana, and in the business community. I also learned a ton about sustainable logging, carbon sequestration and the use of carbon credits.
When we got back to the states, my wife asked if I could see myself living in Guyana. Without hesitation, strange as it may seem, I told her, “America is now my home. I have adjusted to life here. Life is easy. I have more connections here than in Guyana. Relatively speaking crime is nonexistent here compared to Guyana. In the U.S., the infrastructure is incredible. We are talking roads, electricity, water, hospitals, educational institutions, etc. All of these make life easy. The opportunities here are abundant. This is why millions from all over the world want to come here.”
Yes, I was born and raised in Guyana, but even the neighborhood in which I was raised is beyond recognition. Houses are bigger, cars are all over the place. The empty lots that were open fields now have big houses. The streets that had one or two cars are now busy. Main streets are now filled with traffic jams, honking cars, and a lot of noise. It was a completely different feeling. The place I called home is a nostalgic memory. I do not recognize the place I visited in April.
The joy was meeting relatives and friends I hadn’t seen in decades and eating various foods and fruits that I enjoyed growing up. Another joy was seeing the wild monkeys in trees, birds (parrots, macaws, hawks, etc.), and hearing the kiskadees and howler monkeys. With the right conditions they can be heard three miles away.
Today, home for me is America.
I started college in Minnesota and most of my career developed here. As I look back through the decades, America has been good to me. Some of the families who invited me into their homes when I first came here are still my friends. In Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa opportunities were presented, and I leveraged them. As a result, I have far exceeded many measures of success. Two easily measurable ones would be academic and financial. Our kids have also found academic and financial success in America. They are all adulting beautifully, and we are so proud of them.
A reflective moment: In Guyana, my wife and I were having dinner with friends and family members who were visiting from abroad. We did not plan to meet. We just happened to be in Guyana at the same time for different reasons. We were all filling in the gaps of 40 years or more. Out of the blue one of my cousins who was also visiting Guyana asked, in all seriousness and sincerity, “Raj, I have a question. How come a dunderhead like you can become a professor in the states? … Americans can’t be that bright.” Dunderhead is the equivalent of a blockhead. She remembered me as the kid who failed classes and repeated grade levels. I told her I eventually got my high school equivalency at 25 years of age after many failed attempts, and I then went on to college. Referring to me as a dunderhead was mild. As a teenager I heard things like, “Raj is as dumb as a box of rocks, and that is an insult to rocks.”
So, how does one move from a dunderhead to a university professor? Much of it happened in America. In college, I met many wonderful professors who worked with me. One of my most influential professors was Hank Tkachuk. After two years of college and learning how to study I believe my brains kicked in. By the time I got to graduate school, getting A’s wasn’t too hard. I can remember classmates talking about a brutal exam and I thought, “oh good heaven I must have completely missed the depth of the exam because I thought it was very doable.” I ended up getting an A for the exam.
Yes, praises go to my college professors. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t praise teachers in Guyana who helped me pass my high school exams. I can remember taking private lessons in the evenings after work from Mr. Insanally when I was in my mid-20s. He assessed me and put my English at 10th grade and my math at 11th grade. I was then grouped with kids 12-16 years of age in two separate groups. The first couple of days were uncomfortable. Here I was a fully bearded man sitting with kids. Mr. Insanally focused on my skill level, not my age. Much of the instruction was one on one or in small groups of three to five students. He hired TAs from the local university who helped students when they were stuck. He would spend his time visiting the various groups and fielding questions and giving further instructions.
If I were to start a school, it would be using this model that focuses on skill level not age. It would be fluid. You don’t move on until you master the current level. Technically, one can be in many grade levels at the same time. One of the lessons I remember from Mr. Insanally was how to think critically. This has stayed with me over the decades. I believe this significantly impacted my desire to learn about how things work, how things are made, and the connectedness of things. Another teacher I must thank is Mrs. Dwarka. She was a friend of my mother. They taught at the same high school. She taught me chemistry, which I was able to pass at the high school level. It was these teachers who helped this dunderhead to embark on a college education in America.
In America there are many opportunities to grow to pursue higher education and earn and invest money. Financially, I can easily afford to retire, but I do enjoy teaching and many students have told me they enjoy having me as a professor. In 2023, I was honored as Employee of the Year. This was due to my teaching and commitment to student success. Hopefully, as I continue to teach, I am able to make a difference in someone’s life.
So, over the years I have been able to achieve a doctorate and financial stability. This happened because in America opportunities are plentiful even for the not so intellectually gifted person. One does not have to be the smartest. What is required is persistence, resilience and following the advice of positive role models.
I consider it a great privilege to live in America. I have lived a privileged life here. I have access to so many things that were built by others. Things like running water that is safe to drink, electricity, access to education, medical care, an abundance of food, etc. When I look at the privilege I have I would easily turn down $1,000,000 to live in another country. As a result of the privileges and the opportunities I can easily say I am an American with Guyanese/Caribbean heritage. I am not even hyphenated. I am an American.
In closing, for the privileges I have I am thankful for the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the soldiers who fought to keep this country free, the judicial system, the Civil Rights Act, and law enforcement personnel who work to keep this country safe. I’m thankful that we continue to strive toward the ideals asserted — but in many tragic ways not practiced — at the founding. I’m thankful that so many of my fellow Americans agree on the value of those ideals, even as we disagree about how far we’ve come toward them and how exactly to pursue them. To demonstrate my thankfulness, I proudly fly the American flag at the front of my home. The work we do to make our country better and stronger is worth it.
Raj Beekie is an associate professor in the Doctor of Business Administration department at Saint Mary’s University. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and organizational communication from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., master’s degree in Intercultural Communication from North Dakota State University, Fargo, and a doctorate in Organization Development from the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities. His email address is [email protected]
