Faithful to My Roots

Retired educator Peter Halkias, in his autobiography Faithful to My Roots, writes about his childhood years during the German Occupation (1941-44) and the subsequent civil war that ravaged his native country of Greece. As he recalls, digging deep into his past, he writes of the difficult relations with his father during his elementary school years and the support he received from his mother during his high school years at Sparta and later years. Without any reservation, he does not hesitate to analyze both his parents from a social, intellectual, economic, and moral point of view. He continues his biography by describing his service in the Greek armed forces and the dreams he made as a young man right after he fulfilled his military obligation. He continues by sharing his preparation for a career to follow the academic road in his life for a successful future. He explains that the two years he attended the academy of TripolisTripoli studying to become a teacher, he experienced challenges and unfairness in the grading of students not on their own merit but on their background and social status.
The educator writes how he met his wife of forty years, a remarkable marriage nowadays, and how they endured the struggles in raising their three children.
He devotes quite a few pages to how he immigrated to America and continued his studies at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut, despite all the obstacles he faced: a language barrier, gaining employment, etc. After overcoming all the difficulties and earning his teaching degrees with the assistance of some individuals who recognized his talents and worthiness, he was hired and taught in the schools of Bridgeport, Connecticut, for twenty-five years, from where he retired recently.
In a special chapter, he writes of his personal, family, and other episodes he thought were important life events, and experiences that he could not omit.
He concludes his biography by summarizing his philosophies as a n