Kenneth Bourghs:
CLASS OF 1979
Central High SchoolClass of 1979
Baton rouge, LA
Kenneth's Story
Life
In high school I was such a nerd and not very well known. I am sure I was labeled as 'different.' At the time, I was very religious and my life centered around my church. After I graduated from Central High School in 1979, I took a year off and went to El Salvador to work with my church group. At that time, El Salvador was in the midst of a Civil War. Having led such a sheltered and protected life, my work in El Salvador catapulted me into another world. It was an eye-opening experience that I never forget. After spending one year in Central America I returned to Baton Rouge and began college at LSU. At first I was a business major, then a psychology major. In my 2nd semester of the sophmore year at LSU, I declared a double major of microbilogy and psychology. I never dated much in high school or after I entered college; I was much too shy for that. Even when I was in El Salvador, I was devouted to the purpose of why I was there and never dated. However, in my 3rd year at LSU, I met a girl who was 1st runner-up for Miss Teen Louisiana. She was from Monroe, LA and was in her last year of Accounting at LSU. Her name was Tammy Hart. We started dating and over the Christmas holidays of 1982, we annouced our engagement. We were married in April, 1983. One year later, our son, Damon was born. After graduation from LSU, I started a job at the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board as a Computer Operator on the 4PM-midnight shift so I could go to graduate school to obtain my PhD in Psychology back at LSU. I wanted to be a forensic psychologist. Unfortunately, fate had other choices for me. The marriage between my wife and I turned out to be a disaster. We divorced in 1994 and I moved to Houston, TX to start a new life. I got a job with Waste Management, Inc. (yes, the garbage people) at their corporate offices in downtown Houston. I was hired as the IT Help Desk Manager and two years later, promoted to the Director of the IT Help Desk. During this ...Expand for more
time, I explored opportunities for graduate school. I applied and was accepted at Rice Univeristy to obtain my master's of science in Business with a focus on QBA. I went to school at night and every other Saturday. Three years later I completed my master's degree. It was during this time when I came to terms of who I was and accepted the fact that I am a gay man. (I don't think that surprised anyone.) Naturally my ultra-conservative religious family FREAKED out; however, they got over it. I dated several guys during this time. It was an experience and I then learned why women think most men are 'pigs.' FINALLY, after being hurt many times, a guy found me and proved that he really loved me. Today we are still together and live as a couple. I am not ashamed of being gay; just wish I had come to terms with it years ago...it would have saved me a LOT of heartache and emotional pain. Furthermore, I really do not give a DAMN what anybody thinks about my sexual orientation because I know who I am and I am happy AND comfortable with me (finally). In 2004, I was laid off from Waste Management because of 9/11 and the Enron scandal. I went to work as an IT Business Analyst with SYSCO Food Corp. also headquarted in Houston. During this time, I decided to go for my PhD. I applied to several universities and was accepted at University of Illinois in Chicago. Two years ago, my partner and I moved to Chicago and I started my PhD. In May of 2006, I completed it. I now work for Boeing Industries (yes, the company that builds jets) as a Business Process Design Engineer. I also co-own with my partner, an IT Consulting Firm. The consulting firm specializes in ERP (JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Oracle and SAP) implementations, with a focus on interfacing KRONOS and ADP Payroll applications. Oh yeah, my son...he married his girlfriend of 3 years this past January (2006) and they live in Shreveport. He is 21 and in his 1st year at LSU-Shreveport. His wife is in her last year.
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