I was born in the Southeastern parish of St John, on the 166 square mile island of Barbados (sometimes called little England because of its colonial origin). It is a premier tourist destination with white sandy beaches and 85-degree temps. All year…You can ask me the obvious question – Why are you here in the USA? The answer to that question will come later… I attended high school at Society Mixed School. In 1964 at the tender age of 12, I performed reasonably well on the standard 11-plus elementary exams and received a government bursary to attend Presentation College, Verdun, St John, Barbados. Don’t be fooled by the name…it was an all-boys Catholic high school. Presentation College was also a boarding school where the residents of the US Naval Base at St Lucy would bus their children to school. They also accommodated students from across the other Caribbean islands. I represented my school in athletics (100-meter sprints and 4x100 meter relays), inter-school soccer, and cricket. In spite of my love for table tennis and road tennis, I was never very competitive. My leisure time was also spent at the beach, kite flying, playing dominoes, card games. It was mandatory to take the entire syllabus of classes, and we all had to endure English Language, English Literature, History (Caribbean & World) Geography, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Latin and Spanish. I managed to graduate in 1971 with Cambridge O’Level Certificates (English Universities set all standards) in English Language, English Literature, History, Geography and Math.