RE LOG Fall 2017

18 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2017 Education: A family tradition The biggest blessing, Watson understood, was the one offered by education. His family’s commitment to producing college graduates dates back to the early 1900s when his great grandparents, sharecroppers in Mississippi who had elementary-level educations, made it their mission to send their children off to college. His maternal grandparents, both teachers, extended the family tradition; all seven of their children earned college degrees and some went on to graduate school. All 19 grandchildren followed. “Can you imagine any family doing that,” Watson said, “much less a black family?” In 1973, Watson moved to Miami from Kalamazoo, Mich., with his parents, Carlos and Rose, and three sisters, Carla, Caroline and Beverly. Watson’s Jamaican-born father had taught at Kalamazoo College after earning his graduate degree in sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. Rose Watson, who had a PhD from the University of Miami, had lived and worked in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. In Miami, Watson’s parents found positions at FIU, his father teaching sociology and mother directing international students and student services. “My parents made learning a joy,” Watson said. “Things like the World Book Encyclopedia, which was kind of geeky at the time, they turned into instruments of wonder… The Watson family. “My parents made learning a joy.” – Carlos Watson