One of my former students told me his terrifying story: he was called to the administration building at the Polytechnic and, with five other students, was taken to the nearby military building where they were all put in a room. They stayed in there all night and were interrogated the next morning. My student was very fortunate as he had been confused with another young man with a similar name and was allowed to leave. Three of the youths (students from the University of Bahrain) were handcuffed, hoods were placed over their heads, and they were taken away on a bus, never to be seen again.

I was finding it more and more difficult coping at this time but I tried not to think too much about what might happen to me. I reassured myself that I had not taken part in any protests and therefore was safe. My videos from February had been dealt with by the "security staff" at my apartment and so I felt safe about them. I know I had made comments to my "friends" on Facebook but they were not critical of the ruling family or the government, simply trying to correct false or misleading information. I did not know what the future held at the Polytechnic for me and I did not know if I could continue working for a government that resorted to unlawful arrests, torture, and now identification from social networking.

The state had begun expelling students, including one from my afternoon class. The students were very upset and worried; I tried to give them as much leeway as I could to cope. Some of my afternoon students came from villages that were now being raided by police, arresting suspects and damaging property. They still bravely came to class, passing through checkpoints, and continued to work hard. I found their courage very inspiring.

With every passing day that I was at the Polytechnic I waited to be interviewed by the investigating committee that had been set up by the deputy CEO. With every day that I wasn't asked I felt that maybe I had flown under their radar and escaped detection. It was a stressful time. After some time, I finally received a text message on my mobile phone while I was in class asking me to visit the Director of Human Resources in the CEO's office.

The meeting was direct and to the point. The Ministry of Education knew all about me, knew all about my videos and my comments on Facebook. It turns out that my "friends" had kept copies of my comments, which were presented to me, although none of them could seriously be used to show that I had been critical of the government in any way. I knew that my number was up and there was nothing I could do. To his credit, John Scott had insisted that I not front the other investigative committee as I was the only non-Bahraini under investigation. I told him that I did not hold him responsible for what was taking place in any way. Still, it was obvious that the Ministry wanted me out immediately, but John said he would try to see if he could arrange for me to finish up later. Classes finished in four weeks.