About Me — ND McCray
Texan. Educator. Traveler. INFJ. Fighting to end Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Ethical Non-Monogamist. Roller Skating Enthusiast.
My name is Nicole Denise McCray but for the past 10+ years as a writer, I’ve written under the pen name ND McCray.
I am 45-years old. My mom and I take care of my dad who has dementia. I am an educator. I love rollerskating. I’m documenting my journey into rhythm skating on TikTok and Instagram. I am partnered but I also identify as poly.
I believe in ethical non-monogamy. I love my life, but it took me 40 years to get comfortable and confident to truly be myself.
Here’s my story.
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I served in the United States Air Force from January 1995 to January 2003. While in the military, I lived in Biloxi, Mississippi; Tucson, Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska; Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Okinawa, Japan.
I’m a first-generation college graduate. Though my parents didn’t graduate from high school, they instilled in me that if I work hard and believe in myself, I can do anything I set my mind to do. I’m proud of my accomplishments. Being humble is overrated.
I was honorably discharged from the military in 2003. I used my GI Bill to enroll at the University of Houston shortly after and majored in creative writing for two years.
However, I landed at the University of Phoenix in 2008, where I received my bachelor’s in communication in 2011.
Since middle school, I loved writing, but somewhere along the way, I decided that majoring in communication was a better route. In a lot of ways it was. It gave me tons of life experience in learning how to deal with a plethora of people and personalities. I’ve had jobs in finance, sales, retail, and hospitality. But none of those jobs fulfilled me.
One of my oldest fears is being in a position, a job that I hate but staying for the benefits, the prestige, the paycheck. Where’s the fun in that?
I started writing poetry around 1998 as a way to release anxious thoughts about my sexuality. I served in the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
I also wanted to be a psychologist around this time, but the idea of attending school for almost a decade was too much for me to comprehend in my 20s.
I ended up going to graduate school anyway. Albeit 15 years later, I received my master’s in new media journalism from Full Sail University, in 2012.
Freelancing
For about eight years, between day jobs, I wrote about music. I reviewed albums, covered live shows, and interviewed artists. Some of my favorite interviews include Theophilus London (above picture), Alice Smith, Bernhoft, Avery*Sunshine, The Floacist, Mathieu Bitton, and the cast of Napoleon Dynamite. Those were some of the best times of my life.
Teaching in the U.S.
I’m a middle school language arts teaching assistant in Houston. I teach because it’s the most rewarding field I’ve ever worked in.
I’m also a graduate student in an alternative certification teaching program. We basically do everything that a regular teacher does, just without the benefit of having our own classrooms.
This year, though, I’ll have my own classroom with my own students, and I’m already thinking of productive ways to bring music and poetry into the room.
Teaching Overseas
I taught ESL in Beijing, China, from August 2016 to November 2018. With teaching English overseas, you only need a bachelor’s degree and a TEFL certification. TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. The company I worked for paid for my certification.
Spending time living, working, and exploring China was an amazing experience. I grew as an educator, a traveler, and a global citizen. Not only did I explore Beijing, but I also visited Hong Kong, Guilin, and Shanghai. I spent my birthday in Tokyo in 2018. Eastern culture is fascinating to me, as I am interested in alternative healing practices such as Reiki and chakra balancing.
Prior to the pandemic of 2020, though, I did sign another contract; I was headed to Bangkok, Thailand, to teach 7th and 8th grade advanced ESL.
Not getting to go to Thailand was a bummer. I had created a list of neighboring cities and countries I wanted to visit on school breaks, including Chiang Mai and Phuket, as well as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
Interests and Passions
In my free time, I like to roller skate. I’ve skated off and on since I was 12. I returned to it consistently about two years ago as a way to stay fit. I also like to go on hikes, listen to podcasts, go to concerts, and keep up with the tiny home community of van lifers on Instagram and YouTube.
It’s funny how life happens when you get comfortable in your own skin. I went all around the world in search of my purpose; only to come back to my hometown to do exactly what I’m supposed to be doing: teaching and writing.
-ND McCray
You can read my articles on Medium here.
You can visit my website here.
You can follow my rollerskating journey on Instagram and TikTok.
