My first job after law school was not as a lawyer. After three rigorous years of study, followed by intense cramming for the bar exam, I needed time away from the law. And so I became head of an elementary school in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, exchanging my 19-year status as a student for that of teacher and school administrator.

This came about because, while a law student, I taught one afternoon a week at a school in New York. The headmaster asked me to go to Puerto Rico to open a school and stay for four months until the permanent head could come from England.

In San Juan I was met at the airport by the school board chairman and driven directly to meet Sister Maria José. She ran the Roman Catholic school in Fajardo and was concerned that the new school would take her best pupils. My apprehension about the meeting vanished when she opened her mouth and I heard the familiar accent of Brooklyn, USA. Sister Maria José and I got along fine.

The school was located in a beautiful house, once a private residence, with a garden. The students were the children of parents working as executives at the Fajardo East Sugar Co.

The school opened with a student body of 21 boys and girls and three teachers, including me. I taught Grades 4 to 8 (11 children) in all subjects but Spanish and art. My presentations on American history drew heavily on Henry Steele Commager, whose book I fortunately had taken with me.

My educational philosophy is simple: Learning should be fun. Passersby on the street would hear gales of laughter issuing from the open windows of the school.

I was assisted in making learning fun by the arrival of Misty.

One morning we came upon an abandoned undernourished puppy on the porch. The children named her Misty, and the school adopted her. Spoiled by all of us, Misty became quite the performer, jumping on my desk and wagging her tail to the intense delight of the students. Later, during her teething phase, she occasionally nipped children on the ankle as they sat at their desks.

No child dozed with Misty in the room.

Being human, at times I would be grouchy with the students, especially when they were sloppy in their work. Too grouchy, some of the girls would cry. Having attended only all-boy schools, I was not prepared for this.

One day I had my comeuppance. A letter arrived from the New York State Board of Law Examiners notifying me that I failed the Bar exam.

From that point on, I became more sympathetic to the academic difficulties of my students.

These events occurred in the fall of 1962. Mother would call at night from New York about a missile crisis in nearby Cuba. I’d tell her that I had no time to worry about such things, being too busy preparing lessons for the next day.

My inability to speak Spanish was not a major liability, since the children all were bilingual. When dealing with the garbage collector, who spoke only Spanish, or by telephone with education officials in San Juan, I would summon an eighth-grader to serve as my interpreter.

I purchased a pocket watch. When a child arrived late, I went through an elaborate ceremony of taking the watch from my pocket and staring at its face; far more dramatic than glancing at a wristwatch. To this day, I carry a pocket watch.

Time passed quickly, too quickly. As Christmas drew near, the students bade me farewell. Tears were shed, including mine.

The new head arrived from England. His first act was to banish Misty from the premises, though she found a home with one of the children. I returned to New York City to take the bar exam again — this time successfully — and begin my career as a lawyer.

从法学院毕业后我做的第一份工作并不是当律师。经过三年的严格学习，接着就是激烈填鸭式地准备律师资格考试，我需要离开法律一段时间。于是我去波多黎各法哈多市当了一名小学校长，将我19年的学生身份变成了教师和校长。

之所以这样是因为还在法学院上学时，我就在纽约一所中学每周教一下午的课。校长要求我去波多黎各开办一所学校，并在那里待上四个月，直到常任校长从英国来到为止。

学校董事长亲自到圣胡安机场接我，然后直接去见玛丽亚·约瑟夫修女。她在法哈多开办了一所罗马教会学校，因此她非常关心新学校是否会接受她最出色的学生。她一开口说话，我便听到了那熟悉的美国布鲁克林口音，我对董事会的担心也随之而消失了。玛丽亚·约瑟夫修女和我相处得非常融洽。

学校坐落于一座美丽的房子中，原先这里曾是一个带花园的私人住宅。学生的家长都是法哈多市东糖公司的行政人员。

学校开学时有21名男女同学和三位教师，包括我在内。除了西班牙语和艺术课外，我教授4～8年级（共11名学生）的所有课程。我对美国历史的介绍主要依靠亨利·斯蒂尔·柯梅杰，幸好我随身带着他的著作。

我的教育哲学观非常简单：学习应该是快乐的。大街上的过路人会听到从学校敞开的窗子中飘出的阵阵欢笑声。

米斯迪的到来帮助我使学习变得快乐起来。

一天早上在走廊上我发现了一只营养不良、被人抛弃的小狗。孩子们给她取名米斯迪，学校收养了她。我们大家都很宠爱她，米斯迪成为一名很好的表演者，跳上我的讲桌，然后摇摆着尾巴逗得学生大笑。后来到她长牙的时候，当学生坐在教室中自己座位上时，她会偶尔轻咬学生的脚踝。

米斯迪在教室的时候没有学生打盹。

作为一个成年人，有时我会对学生的表现不满，尤其是当他们在学习上马马虎虎的时候。脾气太暴躁时，有些女生会哭哭啼啼。由于我以前上的是男子学校，因此对此我没有心理准备。

一天我得到了应受的惩罚。来自纽约州法律考试委员会的信函对我没有通过律师考试进行了通报。

从那时起，我开始更加同情那些在学习上遇到困难的学生。

这些事情都发生在1962年秋天。妈妈晚上从纽约打电话告诉我附近的古巴发生了导弹危机。我告诉她说我没有时间去考虑这些问题，因为要准备第二天的课，我实在太忙了。

我不会说西班牙语并没有带来多大的负面影响，因为孩子们都能说两种语言。与只会说西班牙语的垃圾收集工打交道时，或者用电话与在圣胡安的教育官员进行联系时，我会找一名八年级的学生当我的翻译。

我买了一只怀表。孩子们迟到时，我如同检查一次精心准备的典礼，从口袋中拿出怀表，并盯着表盘看上一会儿；这比看手表舒服多了。直到今天，我还装着一只怀表。

时光如梭，实在是太快了。当圣诞节来临的时候，学生来向我告别。都眼泪汪汪的，我也如此。

来自英国的新校长到了。他的第一个命令是先把米斯迪放走，虽然她已经在一个孩子家中安顿下来。我返回纽约城后参加了律师考试——这次成功了——于是就开始了自己的律师生涯。

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