Diane Bergeron, PhD is an associate professor on a one-year leave of absence from a small midwestern research university. She has little to no sailing experience. She is quietly freaking out about this whole trip (for more about ‘who we are’ see further below).
Matt Warren is certified to charter sailboats anywhere in the world. He formerly owned a small sailboat (a 27′ Yankee Dolphin). He has taken a number of sailing courses and has chartered boats in Lake Erie, the British Virgin Islands (with Diane) and Spain (also with Diane). He is freaking out a little bit about the trip – but not nearly as much as Diane.
These are our two sons, Malachi (pronounced MAL-uh-kai) aged 7.5 years and Joshua (pronounced JOSH-oo-uh), aged 5.5 years. They are secretly ninjas-in-training and are not freaking out about the trip at all.
More about Diane …
[This is a summary of my work bio]. Diane received her doctorate in organizational psychology from Columbia University and is currently at Case Western Reserve University. Her research is in the areas of organizational citizenship behavior, faculty career outcomes, productivity and work performance. It has been published in leading academic journals and she has received several research awards. In her former life, Diane worked for a small consulting firm in New York City and at Pfizer, Inc. She also spent two years volunteering in the Dominican Republic on projects related to poverty, malnutrition, teen pregnancy, and childhood education. She was a member of Cleveland Social Venture Partners, and served on the board of the nonprofit organization Womankind. She is a member of several professional conferences.
Isn’t it funny that a work bio really says nothing about the person who inhabits that role? So … here is my real bio … I am someone who never planned on getting married, having children, being a professor or going on a sailing trip. Somehow, I have managed to do/be all of these things. I should plan on never being a multi-millionaire. I am an introvert (i.e., the one sitting next to, and perhaps talking to, a plant at crowded gatherings), I like to laugh and see the ridiculousness of life, I love getting my hands muddy by working with clay, I grew up wanting to be a jockey (a dream that ended when I became 5’ 10”) or a skydiver (did it once but couldn’t see how to make a living from it), and I love traveling. Perhaps it is because I am searching for something …
More about Matt …
Matt is an electrical engineer by training. After 10 years as an account executive in the telecomm industry, he quit his job (with Diane’s support) to do something with trees. In order to get Diane to agree to incubate his children, he said he would stay home with them once they were born. He did that until they were 5 and 7 years old (for which he has Diane’s undying lifelong admiration), at which time we left on this sailing trip. He is ready to get back to work and is currently figuring out what he wants to do. He is also tall but never had dreams of being a jockey. [Diane is clearly the author of the blog].