After graduation in 1980, I spent four months in Hawaii, a place that instilled in me a commitment to appreciating diversity and cultures. At the college of Charleston, I met my husband of 35 years, Michael Wharton. We relocated to the Washington DC area in 1997 from Charleston. We were looking for a more liberal and progressive area of the United States. We leaved across the street from the Pentagon at the time of 9/11. The events of that day motivated me to become a teacher. In recent years, I’ve spent my summers in Mexico teaching English and art. I also volunteer to help abused and abandoned dogs along the US/Mexico border.