Adil Baguirov Dayton

Education runs in Adil Baguirov's blood.

Baguirov, who this past year was elected to the Dayton Board of Education, is a veritable open book on subjects including education policy to the history of the Ahiska Turkish community in Dayton, where he's among the rising leaders. He's also a teacher at several universities, including University of Dayton. Adil Baguirov

The well-traveled educator says the freedoms he's enjoyed in America have continued to amaze him, even once the mountainous terrain of his native Caucasus region occasionally make him consider home. Born in a the main Soviet Union today called Azerbaijan, Baguirov loves the little things in Dayton, from the open hours of restaurants to his favorite local spots like Press Coffee, where he met me for drinks and cake.

Q: What was it like visiting America?

A: I was supposed to attend law school in Moscow when I graduated from high school. I was 15, and I already was preparing for the entrance exams, and the outcome came that I was accepted into among the schools within the United States. I jumped for joy and told my parents I wanted in the future here, even though it was an inferior university in Michigan and I'd planned for just one of the finest universities in Moscow.

Which was the early ‘90s, and I didn't would like to study law, I wanted to learn about business and I believed the curriculum here will be better.

Ever since, something generated another, I utilized in a college in Los Angeles, lived in Washington D.C., and I'd a good experience coast-to-coast and traveling around the country. I acquired to understand more of America and the various experiences here, the various accents, expressions and I enjoy it. Whenever you head to European countries, I bring examples of how exactly we do things in America, typically either in operation aspects.

Q: What do you prefer best about living here?

A: Freedom of speech which can be enshrined here. It's hard to sue an individual because he expressed his thought, and that's completely different even for advanced companies in Europe. You can be easily sued for something. Oahu is the little things I find. The stores open 24 hours, that's so awesome. In Europe and in the big cities, if you want to have lunch after 2:30, you're out of luck. They shut things down until dinner. Here you can go like a meal at almost any time. From something high as much as something very practical. I, as an immigrant and naturalized American, find a lot of little things like which are better, although I already knew Europe very well and I knew the culture.

Q: How's the culture different?

A: Parents are happy for the successes of the children. They cut them a lot of slack, they need them to savor life. Our grandparents had harsh lives and bad conditions and they would like to make sure their children are able to enjoy life and get things these were unable to get, such as education, and the ability to enjoy freedoms and make money like these were unable to do when these were persecuted. Adil Baguirov Board of Education

We've proven it, with eight years in America and the impact we've had here.

Q: Do you keep anything that reminds you of home?

A: Definitely. I'm a mountaineer myself, going into mountains, skiing, flying. I really like snapping pictures and post them. They're just mountains, but I really like them, they're so beautiful.

I really like the culture and history of this the main world. I studied it, even if I studied business and political science and international relations. I've published several historical articles in peer-reviewed journals so I'm sort of a beginner historian, too. I really like history. It's why I teach that program at UD and I do it at other schools including George Washington University in D.C. and some others.

I prefer the history, and the culture, I have great appreciation for them and I see them interesting, from the cuisine the dances the costumes, and so on. I've been active in the nonprofit sector, a lot of them in Washington, so I put my passion into use and action. I'm very proud to possess introduced some pretty big issues that way.