While talking about the pains and joys of living some 7,300 miles away from hometown Indianapolis in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, Alta Mauro floated two realities that may at first seem contradictory.
Mauro is excited to come home to the U.S. in a month to start a new job as associate dean of students for inclusion and belonging at Harvard University.
But that doesn’t mean it will be easy to move away from what Mauro considers home in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s been difficult,” she said of being away for almost six years. Mauro is currently associate dean of students at New York University Abu Dhabi. “You miss your friends. You miss your family. … But after a while, if you’re lucky, a new place becomes home.”
That may be especially true for her 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter.
“This feels like home for me, and I think this feels like home for my kids,” Mauro said. “I don’t think they’ll realize that until they’re away.”
Mauro, 41, was born and raised in Indianapolis and left after high school to attend Indiana University, where she also received her master’s degree. She hasn’t lived in Indiana since 2004.
Mauro also has a doctorate in educational leadership and cultural foundations from the University of North Carolina.
Her three sisters aren’t surprised the baby of the bunch grew up to become someone willing to live around the world and land a job in the upper echelons of higher education.
Dana Elmore, the oldest sister, remembered Mauro being intelligent enough before she was even 1 to know what colors flashed above her head at stoplights.
“I’m beyond the moon,” she said. “I tell her all the time I can’t wait until she moves back in the country. … She’s an exceptional talent.”
Mauro apparently had quite a bold personality as a child. Monica Elmore, the second oldest sister, said Mauro used to dress up and impersonate Michael Jackson and Prince.
“We always knew she was gonna go far,” she said. “You hear that about your siblings, about your close ones, but she’s literally one that took the torch and just blew it up.”
Even Rhonda Perry, the sister closest to Mauro in age, is eight years older. Everyone had a chance to watch Mauro grow up and observe traits that may not have been so obvious for siblings too close in age.
Getting a job at Harvard, then, just seems like the next step in this natural progression they’ve been watching unfold for years.
“I don’t expect anything less from her,” Perry said.
Mauro will begin her new job at Harvard on May 1 and joked that she may stay in Abu Dhabi until she doesn’t have a choice but to finally leave. Her husband and two children are staying until the end of the school year.
The United Arab Emirates is a “transient” place, Mauro said, where people are always coming and going. She’s made many friends over the years, as have her children, but it seems like most people leave at some point.
Now, Mauro will become part of that wave of people who came and went, leaving one home for the other.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
Alta Mauro is the new dean of students for inclusion and belonging at Harvard University. (Photo provided)
Michelle Loibner
