Since Graduating:
From the Yahoo Group posting:
From: bryan.deleo
Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 3:25 PM
Bruce Greenwald's and Joel Aaronson's bios have inspired me to go ahead with this.
After graduation in 1967, I spent two years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Istanbul, Turkey. I refused to serve in Vietnam and was (after a difficult battle with Local Board #76 in Rochester) recognized as a conscientious objector.
Looking back to the 1970s I recognize now that I was perhaps in search of myself, mostly in New York City where I moved to perform the required 2-year "alternate civilian service" in substitution for military service. This "in search of myself" process included 2 Master's degrees, one in International Education at Michigan State and the other in Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia.
Even while at Rochester, I'd wanted to get out and see the world. Fortunately or not (I'm perhaps less financially secure than many of you), I've spent my entire professional life in the field of "educational travel," working for the likes of the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, and National Trust for Historic Preservation. These days I'm director of an educational travel program called Road Scholar (www.roadscholar.org), which is a division of Elderhostel created for Baby Boomers.
Since I was 5 or 6 years old, I'd known that I was "different," and by the age of 9 or 10 I knew that I was "queer," to use the term that was most common during our years at Rochester. During college, I was deeply unhappy about this and kept it entirely to myself until after graduation.
In 1979, I moved to Washington, DC, and there in 1990 I met Doug Gilzow, a sweet-natured, slightly goofy guy who had lived overseas a lot and worked at that time for the Peace Corps. Today we live together in a row house near the National Zoo. Doug works for the U.S. Department of State now, and I commute each week between Washington and Boston, which is where my Road Scholar office is located. Looking back, it seems that I've been pretty fortunate. I'd wanted to get out and see the world, and with that as a priority I've since poked around in 49 states and 96 countries. Like everyone else, I wanted to share my life with someone I love, and now I do.
Harvey Yampolsky also lives in Washington. We were in the same pledge class and became friends only because of Beta Delt. Today I'd say that Harvey and I have been "lifelong friends," and I look forward to the chance to renew other friendships that have been dormant for many years.
