Andrew Abela is the founding dean of the School of Business and Economics and associate professor of Marketing at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC.

We left Malta in 1982. My father, Edward Abela, was managing director at Mid-Med Bank at the time. He was offered a senior executive position with the Banca Commerciale Italiana (now HSBC) in Canada.

I was always volunteering to lead training sessions for others, and found that I really enjoyed teaching. So I thought I should try to make it my full-time career. I like interacting with young people and with new ideas. As a professor I get to do both every day.

I am most proud of my family above all else. In career terms, it would be the creation of the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America, and of raising over $50 million in donations to support the school.

My wife and I have six children. The hardest part was when they were all young: at one point we had six children aged 12 and under. That was a lot of work and not much sleep! But it was totally worth it. Now our oldest two are away, one in graduate school and one an undergraduate, and so I appreciate the remaining four even more. The highlight of each day is our family dinner, always very lively conversations.

I really like living in Washington. There's so much going on all the time: so many interesting people to meet and things to see and do. I particularly like the many monuments and the free Smithsonian museums.

Find God again, because you are not going to find peace or happiness anywhere else. In my teenage years, I fell away from the practice of our Catholic faith. In my mid-twenties I returned and growing in faith and love of Our Lord has been the most joyful and important thing in my life. It breaks my heart to see the deep faith that Maltese people used to have being abandoned.

We've only visited Malta three times in 23 years: once on our honeymoon, and twice more in the summers of 2006 and 2012. It's expensive paying airfare for our whole family.

I do miss Malta, no question. Friends have given us copies of the various beautiful 360 degree photo books, which we really enjoy looking at, and things like Andrew Alamango's folk music compilation and Matty Cremona's cookbook fill me with nostalgia.

Facebook allows me to keep up with friends from De La Salle and from Sliema Scouts, like Ian Crockford, and Joey Agius, and to grieve together when one of our number passes away, such as in the shocking murder in 2017 of David Abela; David and I were best friends as teenagers.

We once thought of buying a house in Malta. But looking at the prices now I don't think we can afford it! Once I retire, still about 10 years away, I would like to come and spend some time in Malta though.