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Looking for the good life in the Poconos
ESU professor leaves fast-food job in
Johan Eliasson was living the good life, working as a
manager at McDonald's in his native
On a Saturday, the giant McDonald's had more than 80 employees and served more
than 7,000 customers. He learned marketing and economics and vacationed in the
"It was nothing like the
He started cleaning bathrooms and worked his way up. Had he continued, he could
be making six figures like his friends who remained in
Instead, he came to the
"I decided the stress wasn't worth it. I was on call 24/7," Eliasson
said.
The job required him to be on his feet for hours, which was cutting into his
training for marathons. Dealing with people was rewarding, but sad.
"There was immigration, but no integration," Eliasson said. Doctors
and lawyers from
A former soccer player, Eliasson started running as a way to keep in shape.
"I wanted to see how good a runner I could be," he said.
At college, he chose to study political science. "My mother's side was
always involved in politics and my dad always talked politics," Eliasson
said.
He had a JFK-like event that shaped him. Swedish Prime Minister Sven Olof
Joachim Palme was assassinated in 1986. "They still haven't caught the
assassin," he said.
He come to the United States in 1993, earned a political science degree at
California State University, where he was on the cross country and track teams.
He continued to
Eliasson started with sufficient savings, but by May 1998, he said, he didn't
have a nickel. A scholarship helped pay for rent and food and he borrowed on
his credit card. "I incurred student loans that I'll be paying for the
next 30 years," he said. "It's something I wanted to do. I'm happier
now than I was then."
The dedication he learned at McDonald's helped him persevere. "If you can
manage a restaurant with a $5 million turnover, you can do grad school."
Memories of "the good life" made being a poor college student more
palatable. "I already experienced that and chose the austere life."
He does admit to focusing more on the food than the speakers sometimes at the
lavish receptions at
Though he says he hates snow, he chose ESU when he graduated because of its
proximity to
Eliasson also selected ESU because its focus is teaching rather than research.
At the beginning of each class he tells students, "If you sign up for a
class that doesn't challenge you to stop and think, demand your money back. Regurgitation
is absolutely worthless."
He also tells students to ask why something has happened rather than what has
happened. "What is easy," Eliasson said. "Why is difficult. If
you know why you are in a better position to stand for what's right and what's
wrong."
He likes the flexibility of ESU, where he is building a European studies
concentration. "You get to help shape the department," he said.
With his connections at
Eliasson enjoys walking to work on nice days, but he runs daily, for a total of
80 to 120 miles a week. "It's physically rewarding and mentally
relaxing."
Saying that the last four months of his Ph.D. were more exhausting than a
marathon, he said, "You want to see how good you can become. You push your
body just to see how far you can push it."
He won marathons in Palos Verdes in 1997 and 1998 and competes in many around
the country.
Eliasson's other passion is eating. He cooks and travels with his stomach in
mind. Eliasson admits to spending $10 a day on fresh frozen yogurt when he
visits his brother in
When his younger brother visited from