Gary Segal was born in the Bronx, NY in 1943. He was raised in a very poor family consisting of seven people living in a 3-room apartment on the 5th floor of a walk-up. The family included mother, father, two grandparents, uncle and sister. Both grandparents were deaf, so Gary learned sign language to communicate with them. One of the great things about growing up in the Bronx is to be a part of the diversity. The Bronx was filled with residents of different religions, different languages, different colors, different cultures and different histories. With the epidemic of 1953, Gary contracted Polio. He spent one month in an Iron Lung, three months in the hospital and completed the entire 5th grade from home. From the age of 13 to the age of 46, Gary had seven surgeries on his leg. Gary has a BS and MS in Mathematics. His first job after graduation was to design algorithms and mathematical models at Bell Labs. Gary has also held positions with two international companies, Pirelli Tire in Milano, Italy and MAN Roland in Augsburg, Germany. His work consisted of designing engineering models to implement Six Sigma and Lean. His last employment was with Reliant Medical in Worcester, Mass, where he was responsible for physician leadership training and addressing all organizational issues. While working full time, he also obtained an MA in Organizational Psychology. As a result of a very difficult upbringing, Gary began counseling to help improve his own self-esteem. He became engrossed in the research and worked to obtain a PhD in Psychology, with his dissertation on “Self-Esteem in Children and its Manifestation in Adulthood”. At heart, Gary is a teacher and has served as an adjunct at several universities and colleges, including University of New Haven, Quinnipiac University, Assumption College and Lake Sumter College. He has also given presentations on his PhD research at Yale University and UNC-Chapel Hill. Gary was aided by Ted Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) who served on his PhD committee. After the murders of Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney and Viola Luizzo, Gary became a Freedom Rider. His assignment was to go to North Carolina and help register black voters. Although they were eligible to vote, the KKK and Jim Crow actions worked against their ability to register. Upon his arrival in North Carolina, the Freedom Bus was confronted by the Klan up front and very personal. It was a scary time, a Very Scary time. Since moving to the Villages, Gary serves as a volunteer tutor at Wildwood Middle High School and Beverly Shores grammar school. He has delivered several presentations for the Civil Discourse group, including one on his “Journey from the Bronx to the Villages, via CORE and TAAC”, which addresses his experience as a Freedom Rider. When TAAC was looking for mentors to help worthy and needy students at Wildwood Middle High School, Gary volunteered. At the same time, he joined TAAC and very happily serves on the Scholarship Committee. It is a significant joy to help these students move forward with their lives and hopefully lead to success. However, the achievements most noteworthy in Gary’s life are marrying Pam Parmelee and adopting their daughter from China, Tingqin. It has been a wonderful journey, filled with ups and downs, but “it’s not over yet”. There is still more to accomplish.