Broken Glass and the Path to a Career in Education
In 2003, while deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, I went on various convoys and used to see many children in small towns and neighborhoods running around barefoot playing with their friends. One thing I noticed is that there was a lot of loose trash and broken glass. I noticed that many children did not have shoes on. I also wondered if these children in this war-torn nation were not going to school and the adverse impact it can have on their future. This imagery of children in poverty running around with broken glass barefoot has stuck with me. <br /><br />As I reflected on my time while deployed it made me realize that I needed to make a difference and make an impact on people who are in poverty and in most need. My grandmother and mother were both educators, so I could not think of a better calling than to become a teacher myself. I intentionally only interviewed at schools where I could make the most difference. Teaching in a setting where many students were economically disadvantaged and had faced trauma really allowed me to gain more empathy for the challenges many of our community members face. <br /><br />As a policy maker I keep the stories of my students and those images from my time in Iraq in my mind, which remind me that there are a lot of folks living in high concentrations of poverty. These memories are a constant reminder that I should not be complacent. Instead, I take pride in being assertive and intentional about helping, respecting and being empathetic to as many vulnerable children and adults as possible. <br /><br /><br /><em>Prior to his appointment as Governor Northam’s Secretary of Education, Atif Qarni taught at Beville Middle School in Prince William County, leading courses in civics, economics, U.S History, and mathematics. He also served as a GED Night School Instructor. In 2016, Atif was recognized as the Dale City Teacher of the Year.</em><br /><br /><em>In addition to his work as an educator, Atif is a former Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps, and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has also served at the state level, having been appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to the Small Business Commission in 2013.</em>
Operation Iraqi Freedom
2003
Secretary Atif Qarni, Virginia Secretary of Education
broken-glass-path-career-education
Witnessing the Effects of Near-History in Iraq
I did not start my assignment as a Middle East or Iraq expert; rather, my expertise lay more in knowledge of the U.S. military. The book provided a crash course in how the region got to where it was at that point, and it made an indelible impression on my understanding of the Middle East.
I was a newspaper reporter covering the War in Iraq in the late 2000s. My assignment was exciting, but often lonely. I bounced from town to town, usually embedded with the U.S. Army. At the end of a long day, there often was no one to talk to, grab a bite with or even watch a bootleg movie. What I did have, though, was a paperback copy of <em>The Great War for Civilization</em> by Robert Fisk. The book helped describe the near-history events that led to the real-time history I was witnessing on a daily basis. Through thorough research and masterful storytelling, I could better understand how an event decades earlier would reverberate throughout the entire region, setting the stage for what I was witnessing: more than 100,000 American troops trying to hold together a country that had fallen apart, creating a proxy war that drew in interests from the entire region. What I was witnessing firsthand provided the color, but the book added depth of understanding.<br /><br />I did not start my assignment as a Middle East or Iraq expert; rather, my expertise lay more in knowledge of the U.S. military. The book provided a crash course in how the region got to where it was at that point, and it made an indelible impression on my understanding of the Middle East.
Robert Fisk
<em>The Great War for Civilization</em> by Robert Fisk
2008
Scott, 34, former journalist
witnessing-effects-near-history