Anthony G. Baxter:
CLASS OF 1964
Reading High SchoolClass of 1964
Reading, PA
Reading Standard Evening High SchoolClass of 1967
Reading, PA
Reading High SchoolClass of 1964
Reading, PA
Southern Junior High SchoolClass of 1961
Reading, PA
South Brandywine Junior High SchoolClass of 1959
Coatesville, PA
Anthony G.'s Story
Although a member of the Class of 1964, I did not graduate with my cohort. I did however obtain my GED in 1967 from the RHS Evening Division. More compellingly, when the Class of 1964 visited Berks County Prison, I was on the other side of the bars. In addition to Berks County Prison, I spent time in the PA Eastern State Penitentiary at Philadelphia (infamously known as the "House" and now a museum), Graterford State Penitentiary, and a few other county prisons and jails.
Suffering through this dark period in my adolescent life, I knew that one day, if I survived alcoholism, drug addiction, and habitual incarceration, I would develop my intellectual gifts. I survived and migrated to San Francisco where in 1979 I embarked on the journey to fulfill my intellectual potential. Ten years and four degrees later, I could call myself "Dr. Baxter," having earned my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Stanford University; my Ed.M. in Counseling and Consulting Psychology from Harvard University; my BA in Psychology from San Francisco State where I graduated Magna Cum Laude; and my AA in Welding Technology from San Francisco City College where I graduated with Honors.
Today, I am a retired professor; I taught research methods and statistics in a doctoral program at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Being retired gave me the opportunity to pursue my talent as a developer. In 2003 I started Baxter Enterprises, LLC, a company committed to building affordable housing. Since the real estate market collapsed in 2008, I have not been building housing units; instead, I manage the units that I built to sell but now rent. With my construction business at a standstill, I took a job as the local school district's Internal Auditor where I served for two years. I also worked for the U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Elementary and Secondary Schools in educational research as a data analyst. I left my position with the millitary to travel with my wife, a Marine Corps civilian employee, to and live on Okinawa in Japan. I work part-time for an international adoption agency on Okinawa, helping military couples become parents.
As I reflect on my life, I have come to the conclusion that to be human is to suffer; suffering is part of the human condition; there is no escape from it...Expand for more
. Some humans suffer because we have no money, while others of us suffer because we do; some of us suffer because we have no lover, while others suffer because we do; some of us suffer because we have no education, while others suffer because we do. We are all victims of the circumstances of human existence. All this is to say that it is suffering that makes us human.
The philosopher Schopenhauer declared, and I agree, that "Life is an endless pain with a painful end." The nature of human suffering is such that to ask what causes suffering and how to avoid it is like a fish asking what causes water and how to avoid it; we are not only immersed in it but also dependent on it.
To understand a human being, one must first understand their victimization, their suffering. Each of us is defined by our suffering, yet we are not determined by it. What makes us who we are is not the fact that we suffer, that victimization is universal, but how we respond to the truth that suffering is redemptive, that is, how we take advantage of it. I tell my story, the account of my victimization, not as a point of pessimism or despair, but as one of reflective optimism, a point of hope that lets people know who I am and what is possible in the struggle to become fully human. That's right! I said the struggle to become fully human. Do I imply that we are not born fully human? Most assuredly, we are not born fully human, far from it! Although we are born with the potential to become fully human, fulfilling our potential is conditioned by our attitudes, motivation, temperment, behavior, and access to opportunity and support.
The difference between a human being and a fully human being is three things: selflessness, compassion, and commitment. Although it is true that "Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets its hour upon the stage and is heard from no more...", it is also true that "...I am the Captain of my soul; I am the Master of my fate." My life story pays tribute to the poetry that holds "...whatever its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world." Out of the chaos and confusion of life, we humans can create our own realities and thereby establish order and peace in our souls. "Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself"!
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