Phelps, Morrison

At age 45, having drifted too far from my original reasons for becoming a teacher, I quit a cushy policy analyst job and returned to the classroom. My colleagues thought I had lost my mind. Teaching young felons, I soon discovered that my work at a state education agency, my two-decades old teacher training, and two graduate degrees were essentially useless. In retrospect, my ten years working with troubled youth were by far the most rewarding, and eye-opening, of a 30-year career.