Alumni Profile: Thomas Crafton, B.S. Psychology '97, KPC and M.S. Clinical Psychology '00, UAA

After many years of living in Alaska, Thomas Crafton's family decided to sail around the world in their 43-foot sailboat, Nueva Vida (New Life). The Craftons sold almost everything they owned to pursue their dream of sailing the world's oceans and exploring new places.

Thomas and his family toured many countries and islands experiencing different cultures and lifestyles. They spent months in Central America before crossing the Panama Canal where they explored the Galapagos and swam with penguins, sea lions, marine iguanas, sharks and turtles. They visited the Society Islands, French Polynesia, Huahine and crossed the Equator. After living in New Zealand for more than a year they also traveled throughout Melanesia. They describe this as their richest cultural experience, where they saw a dance festival in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Crossing the long and rough Indian Ocean, they traveled around South Africa and then embarked on a long sail to Maryland, including stops at Saint Helena and the Ascension Islands. The Crafton family circumnavigated the globe in seven years, visiting 23 countries.

"My wife and I were tired of living a conventional life in a culture we didn't really identify with. We didn't want to replicate the same values, morals and norms that were becoming typical in American life," said Thomas.

But before Thomas and his family set sail, he was a graduate student at UAA completing his master's degree in clinical psychology. Thomas received his Bachelor of Science in psychology at one of UAA's four community campuses, Kenai Peninsula College (KPC). After he graduated from KPC, he had many opportunities to go to some big-name schools, but he chose to study with Dr. Todd Risley at UAA. This would prove to be a life-altering choice.

Risley is a world-renowned expert in behavioral psychology, child psychology and-most interesting to Thomas-an expert on childhood developmental disabilities, specifically childhood autism.

"I choose my emphasis because I wanted to help children with special needs, and because I have two children with developmental disabilities and a third that is gifted and talented. The knowledge and skills I learned at UAA have made me a much different father than I would have been," Thomas said.

Thomas describes the student-teacher relationship between he and Risley as wonderful. However, the greatest gift was the attention and time Risley spent mentoring him.

"I worked as a research assistant with Dr. Risley during the three years of my master's program at UAA. The research opportunities I gained working with him are irreplaceable," Thomas said.

Thomas is currently using his interests and writing skills gained while in UAA's graduate school by writing a book about their seven-year circumnavigation of the world. His 19-year-old daughter, Kalena, is co-authoring it with him.

"The book is mostly about love. It is about a family that wanted more quality time together, and parents believing they could teach their special children more about the world through experimental learning in a non-typical lifestyle than the typical educational model," he says.

After several years working in the field, Thomas has decided to focus on helping his own children, and encouraging the same kinds of educational opportunities he had through UAA.

"UAA gave me tremendous confidence in school and my personal endeavors to the point that I believe I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I believe big-name schools wouldn't have provided me with the same experiences I received at UAA. The small class sizes made graduate school a wonderful in-depth experience. I would never trade my experiences at UAA for a Harvard degree."