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Dreams of a Teacher

By Earl Williams

Karen Jones and Katrina Williams

When asked to name the person I admire most, it is always my wife Katrina. Let me tell you about one of the reasons why I admire her so much. As long as she can remember, Katrina dreamed of becoming a teacher. As a little child in rural Pageland, South Carolina, there was nothing she enjoyed more than playing school. And of course, she pretended being the teacher of her own classroom. She made her own little schoolroom and begged her cousins to be her students. To her dismay, they didn't want to play school. They wanted to really play and have fun. But, to little Katrina, this was fun. Her love for learning was so intense that she would go without eating and trade her lunch for a book. Her food was learning, and she could never get enough.

Her desire to learn and teach was the fuel that powered her to finish high school as one of the top students of her class. She went on to earn a Bachelors degree in elementary education from Fayetteville State University in 1968. She was ready to fulfill her life long dream, but God had another plan. She met me, and God placed another vision in her heart. She asked God to make her the best wife that she could be. She enjoyed and valued this more than even teaching. When our first child, Karen, was born, she loved her and taught her. Our home became a classroom. Books filled our daughter's bedroom. Katrina was teaching again. But this time her student was attentive. By the time Karen was three years old she was reading. Her mother had transferred her love for books and learning to her daughter, and most importantly her dream of teaching.

Katrina and Earl Williams

As Karen grew, so did her thirst for learning, like her mom before her, she enjoyed reading more than playing. Her favorite place was the library. She too dreamed of becoming a teacher. She became a straight a student graduating from high school at the top of her class. With that same desire to learn, she graduated from Spellman College, B.A. in Spanish, Summa cum Laude; Purdue University, M.A. Summa Cum Laude; Yale University, Ph.D. Candidate (A.B.D.).

Karen is fulfilling the dreams of a teacher today. She is currently teaching at Morehouse College, and has taught at Brenau University, Albertus Magnus College, and Quinnipiac College. And by the way, she is passing on that same love of books and learning to a third generation, her own children. She has instilled that love of learning and achievement in her own children. Just the other night, her eight year old son Philip, stayed up to midnight playing like he was a teacher. He made his playroom into his own classroom, and was busy correcting papers. Just think, it all began with a little girl playing school in the sands of the rural South with the dreams of a teacher.

—Submitted by Debra Louallen-Cole
   Program Associate
   Office of Women in Higher Education
   American Council on Education