During my 31 years of experience as an educator and administrator in different colleges and universities throughout the country, my priority has always been the well-being and overall preparation of my students. Approximately 10 years ago, however, I realized that a critical component was missing in my work. Yes, students were acquiring the technical skills that they needed to be successful, but they lacked something that was just as important, emotional intelligence (EI). Fortunately, I discovered the Transformative Emotional Intelligence Foundation (TEIF). This leading non-profit organization provides resources and services that support knowledge of and the ability to apply EI. As a practicing educator, I highly recommend the TEIF to all my colleagues and, in particular, the 23rd annual Institute for Emotional Intelligence scheduled to be held on the campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi from November 5-7.

In 2009, I attended my first 4-Day Transformative Emotional Intelligence (TEI) Workshop and Conference in Houston, Texas, hosted by Professors Darwin Nelson and Gary Low. It was a memorable occasion because it was highly informative yet casual. The materials shared were colourful and thought-provoking with excellent discussion and dialogue throughout the workshop and conference.

It transformed my understanding and broadened my perspective of Transformative Emotional Intelligence (TEI), and I resolved that the students at the School of Social Science of the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC) and the wider student body in Trinidad of the Republic and Tobago should be exposed to TEI.

As Dean of the School of Social Science, I introduced TEI as an academic course in the BSc Psychology programme, with the course text, Emotional Intelligence: Achieving Academic and Career Excellence by Drs. Darwin Nelson and Gary Low.

Students in the Master of Science, Counselling Psychology at USC have written theses and presented papers at the Workshop and Conference for the Annual Institute of Emotional Intelligence in the United States and at other Universities in the Caribbean.

I am an active member of the Emotional Intelligence Training and Research Institute (EITRI.org) and highly recommend attendance to all persons who are interested in a multi-disciplinary and transformative approach to Emotional Intelligence.

At the start of the 21st century, I was finishing 75 years as a member of the human species on planet earth. During the early years of my life, certain questions observed me. “Why don't we humans relate to each other differently than we do?” and “Why do we separate into populations each of which thinks is better than the others?”

Dr. Abraham Maslow helped me in the 1970s with his concept of Gemeinschaft (praying for all humankind) and being loved, relating not to population membership, but to being on quality with the other person or human.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Carl Sagan helped me to relate to the Cosmos, of which planet earth was one of billions. Perhaps there are species in the universe that are intelligent enough not to separate themselves into populations which are unfriendly to each other. Before he died in 1996, Dr. Sagan identified three human personalities which we need to overcome. 1.) Dominance hierarchies, 2.) Ethnocentrism, and 3.) Xenophobia (fear of anything strange or different).

During the 1st decade of the 21st Century, Drs. Darwin Nelson and Gary Low helped me into a new perception in Emotional Intelligence as a guide in freeing ourselves from the three human properties identified by Dr. Sagan as the inhibitors of intelligent human relations. I sought to involve professionals from other populations, specifically our neighbors in Mexico, in my quest. They are all involved in this conference and I am grateful for your recognition of all of us.