Adil Baguirov in Dayton

Education runs in Adil Baguirov's blood.

Baguirov, who this past year was elected to the Dayton Board of Education, is really a veritable open book on subjects ranging from 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.

The well-traveled educator says the freedoms he's enjoyed in America have continued to amaze him, even when the mountainous terrain of his native Caucasus region occasionally make him think of 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 arriving at America?

A: I was supposed to visit law school in Moscow when I graduated from high school. I was 15, and I already was finding your way through the entrance exams, and the outcome came that I was accepted into among the schools in the United States. I jumped for joy and told my parents I needed to come here, though it was an inferior university in Michigan and I'd planned for one of the finest universities in Moscow.

Which was the early ‘90s, and I didn't just want to study law, I needed to understand about business and I thought the curriculum here would be better.

From the time, something led to another, I transferred to a college in Los Angeles, lived in Washington D.C., and I'd a good experience coast-to-coast and traveling across the country. I got to understand more of America and different experiences here, different accents, expressions and I really like it. Whenever you go to European countries, I always bring examples of exactly how we do things in America, typically either in operation aspects. Adil Baguirov Dayton

Q: What do you like best about living here?

A: Freedom of speech that will be enshrined here. It's hard to sue an individual simply because he expressed his thought, and that's very 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 wish to have lunch after 2:30, you're out of luck. They shut things down until dinner. Here you can go have a meal at nearly every time. From something high up to something very practical. I, being an immigrant and naturalized American, find lots of little things such as which are better, even though 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 these children. They cut them lots of slack, they want them to enjoy 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 they certainly were not able to get, such as education, and the capacity to enjoy freedoms and earn money like they certainly were not able to do when they certainly were persecuted.

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

Q: Can 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 that 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 kind of a beginner historian, too. I really like history. It's why I teach that program at UD and I get it done at several other schools including George Washington University in D.C. and some others. Adil Baguirov Board of Education

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