I was an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) majoring in architecture when I got a work-study job at a place called the Education Warehouse in Cambridge. I was hired by Hanna (then Arlene) Fingeret, who some of you may know as an extraordinarily passionate and creative adult educator who's written prolifically on topics near and dear to the hearts of many of us. What you may not know is that she was previously an aerospace major, also at MIT! Having come from a blue-collar family with a lot of time "invested" in the streets of NYC, I didn't fit the profile of the typical MIT student. As a result, my interests often gravitated to what was and wasn't working for people who were poor and working class, which helped also lead to a heavy involvement in community organizing.

After MIT, the combination of my joy with teaching in ABE/literacy (I found myself working 40-plus hours/week in my 20 hour part-time job), along with what I was doing as an organizer, made it clear that this was the career for me. After a stint working part time at three ABE programs simultaneously, I finally lucked out and landed a full-time job at the Community Learning Center in Cambridge. Although I've had bill collectors chasing after me for many of the past 31 years in this field, I wouldn't change a thing.

Bob Bickerton is the director of Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)at the Department of Education. He can be reached at: rbickerton@doe.mass.edu