Introductions

Being new to the college, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about myself.

I grew up on East 17^th Street across from the water towers. Each fall my buddies and I would ride our Mustang Bicycles the 22 blocks down Fennel to West 5^th. The greatest chestnut tree on the mountain was on that corner and as we were all avid “kinger” players we’d climb the tree and grab as many chestnuts as we could. We’d take them home, drill a hole down the center, tie a shoelace through it and be ready to do battle. One guy would hold his chestnut on the shoelace while another would whack it with his. First chestnut to break off the shoelace lost, making the other guy king. Simple game but we took it very seriously and we had a lot of time while we were waiting for the ipod to be invented.

One day we noticed a great cloud of black smoke coming from the west. We all rode our bikes to find the source and ended up at the farm on which our chestnut tree stood. Terrible fire - barn burned down and a few animals were killed. Quite a spectacle for young kids. We stayed for hours and all got in trouble when we got home because our parents didn’t have a clue where we were.

So why tell the stories? After the fire the property was redeveloped and became Mohawk College. I literally watched it being built, including taking down the chestnut tree. So I like to think I’ve been around Mohawk right from the start (just like more than a few of my colleagues).

I went to Linden Park for Elementary, Burkholder for Senior Public and Hill Park for High School. I was in the first group of mountain students sent down to HCI for Grade 13 (kicking and screaming). I used to hitchhike to and from HCI and never had a problem getting a ride despite my shoulder length locks!

Summers I worked in the Blast Furnaces at Dofasco so was able to finance my studies at McMaster. The job was just horrible enough that it kept me going back to school each fall. I also worked part-time selling clothes in Jackson Square, primarily affording me the opportunity to meet lots of girls.

I graduated with a BA in Business in the middle of one of the worst recessions the country had ever had. I literally had no idea what I wanted to do with my life but was young enough (20!) to try anything. One day on a whim I put in applications at all 5 of the Chartered Banks in downtown Hamilton. Quite to my surprise they each offered me a job. I joined CIBC at the princely annual salary of $7,500 - exactly $500 less than I made during my last summer at Dofasco. Apparently wearing a tie to work was more important than making money.

An 18 year pit stop in banking followed spread over 5 different banks and 4 cities. I got to see a bit of the world, learn a little about a lot of different industries and meet some great people. I was eventually hired away by one of my clients but lessons from my banking days definitely helped me with my career in business. I managed to stay in school throughout my various jobs, completing an MBA at McMaster and a Masters Certificate in Supply Chain and Logistics at York.

I’ll talk more about my various other jobs in future posts, including my stint exploiting a wondrous new technology called the internet in the late 90’s. Suffice to say I’ve had a terrific, rewarding career and bring a lot of experience to my new job at the college.

But a person is more than what he does to pay the bills. I was blessed to be married to a wonderful woman for 27 years and have two children. My wife taught elementary school in Hamilton and I’m sure we have had many of her students at the college now. Sadly, she passed away after a courageous fight with cancer but I know she would have been thrilled that I am now working with students myself.

My daughter, Lindsey is a Mohawk grad. She finished the Autism program after obtaining her BA from Mac. She now teaches autistic kids at the Woodview Learning Center in Burlington and has the patience of a saint – at work. My son Ian is just finishing up a history degree at Dalhousie in Halifax, although he is a musician at heart. I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined us at the college for a post-graduate diploma.

In my spare time I’m an avid golfer, reader, and traveller.  I’ve been playing pick-up basketball with the same group of guys for over 30 years and can still drop the occasional 3 pointer.

I am thrilled to be working with a great bunch of people at Mohawk and look forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences with you through these posts.

Rick

Comments

[Leif Peng]

Great post, Rick! It was nice to get to know you a little better through the story of your life and career path - a lot of fascinating moments in time, vividly described. I look forward to reading more in your future posts! :^)

[Gus Cristicini]

Wow, that was a great story. I lived down the mountain on Chestnut street, so I know about the King-ers. Later moved to Garth, went to Mohawk and graduated twice cause the first time was, well during one of those recessions and now live in the USA. So much has changed, but I never knew about the fire and I guess it just shows that bearing the iPod creation, the Internet is the real value here. Thanks for Blogging.

[coach purses]

It is a matter of course that industry will bring us success, wealth and good luck. I am sure that a hard-working person can always succeed in the work which he wants to do. This is unchangeable truth.