John Wilkey

Background

About John Wilkey

My training began, in many ways, as a black belt instructor at Golden Tiger Karate in North Brunswick, NJ. It was there that I learned to express myself and work with others. At Rutgers University in New Brunswick, I earned a BA in Communication, studying communication from the psychosocial perspective. One of the subjects I studied, systems theory, proved to be quite useful in my earliest days of employment. The key concept of systems theory is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Four years after my first tenure in college, I returned to Rutgers in order to earn a BA in English. This made sense to me on two levels. On one level, I had recently wrapped up my martial arts training as a first degree black belt, and sorely missed teaching. So, I would apply this degree to an alternate route certification in teaching. On the other, I was interested in taking my writing to a new level. It worked out because in the ensuing years, I would not only become a high school English teacher, but a published author as well. Now, in the third phase of my career, I find myself applying my well-honed communication skills in service of the elderly and those that care for them. Even my years of experience as a singer and guitar player have come in handy, as I perform for the same population on weekends. In the future, I aim to continue to be an effective communicator in whatever environment I find myself in.