BACK TO SCHOOL Memories
Saturday, 30 August 2025
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Back To School Memories
I’ve spent so much of my life on college campuses that this time of year - the start of a school year - still affects me deeply.
When I little boy, my mom would take me to the First Street Store in East Los Angeles to buy school supplies. Back then it was simple: some crayons, pencils & erasers, a plastic pencil box, some wide-ruled writing paper - and when I got older, a blue, canvas-covered, three-ring binder.
Of course, there was also the metal lunch box, which was by far the most exciting thing for me. I loved Davy Crockett (which is why, to this day, I have an antique Davy Crockett lamp in my office) and anything having to do with outer space.
I also remember that, on my first day of school, some kids had new school clothes, but others - like I - did not. Nevertheless, Mom always made sure my clothes were clean and ironed. In particular, she knew how to put a nice, sharp crease on my old jeans to make them look brand new!
After all these years, I also remember something else: A few kids came to school with the big box of crayons. But most of them - like I - came with the small box, with just the basic colors.
The super-big, fat box of crayons came out in 1958, and, wow! it even had its own built-in sharpener. It also had a fancy, flip-open lid, which really impressed me.
At school I’d look at the kids with one of those beauties and wish I had one. The colors of the crayons had names I’d never heard of, like: azure blue, brilliant rose, cerulean blue, maroon, thistle, mahogany, orchid, medium rose, and salmon. They represented an entire world unfamiliar to me.
When I got older I attended college. After that, I started teaching in college. At the beginning of every school year - like now - I’d get excited about meeting my new students.
There was always an energy, a sense of newness to the start of every school year, and I loved it. At Harvard, I remember walking into my classroom on the first day of each school year and greeting my new students. I always made it a point to memorize their names within the first week of classes.
In 1988 I started working at ABC News, while at the same time continuing to teach at Harvard. I told my students they remained my top priority, and I meant it. But as the years rolled on, it got harder and harder for me to juggle the two jobs.
It got to the point where I would spend fewer and fewer days on campus. By the early 1990s I was on campus for only one day, Friday. I’d teach a weekly class and hold office hours all on that one day.
I’ll never forget when I had to film in Ireland for two solid weeks. I could’ve gotten someone to substitute-teach for me, but I wanted to keep my promise to my students. So I filmed for one week, then flew back to Boston in time to teach on Friday. Then later that day - in the evening - I flew back to Ireland to finish one more week of filming. Then I flew back in time to teach again on Friday morning.
By the end of that back and forth, I was completely exhausted. That’s when I knew I couldn’t maintain this double life for much longer.
In 1996, the president of ABC News, David Weston, called me up to his office. Going in I was nervous because it’s like being called into the Principal’s office. You never know what’s going to happen, but invariably you assume it’s not going to be good news.
When I sat down with him, he told me that my contract was about to expire and that the network wanted to renew it for four more years - this time, fulltime and exclusively. Four years was the maximum length of time ABC News was allowed to renew a contract at any given time.
I’ll never forget the words David said to me:
“I’d never ask you to leave Harvard, but we’re going to keep you very busy, and I’m not sure it’s humanly possible for you to keep both jobs. So you need to choose.”
I told him I needed to talk with Laurel before deciding. He agreed but said he needed my decision very soon.
I remember flying home (from NYC to Boston) and telling my wife Laurel the news. I clearly remember the two of us standing in the kitchen and praying about it. And in the end making the decision for me to leave Harvard and work fulltime and exclusively for ABC News.
It hit me really hard because it was the first time in my adult life that I would not be affiliated with a college campus. Being on a college campus was a huge part of my identity - of how I saw myself. So it was as though a part of me I dearly loved died that day, and I mourned the loss.
So, now, here I am, facing the start of a school year with no campus to go to. With no classes to take. With no students to teach. Honestly, after all these years - since 1995, when I chose to cut ties with Harvard - I still feel a certain sadness.
Did I make the right decision back then? Yes. I’d make the same one again. Those years at ABC News offered me a much bigger classroom than I ever had on any campus. I taught science to millions of people all over the world, so even though I’m sad about not being associated with any college anymore, I have no regrets.
Besides, there is my upcoming movie - which, in my mind, will allow me to teach once again. People - especially young people - who watch it will be my students, just like the old days.
Above all, I say this to anyone who asks me: Education will always have a special place in my heart because it was my ticket out of the barrio. Out of a life of poverty and ignorance.
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Thank you and God bless you.
Love,
