I dreamed of entering the Foreign Service, but soon after I became engaged my senior year, I learned that married women were not eligible. Instead I worked in libraries to support my husband through graduate school. Tom provided our overseas experiences as we traveled with our two children on his research trips to the Sudan and to South Africa, living about three years in Africa. After obtaining his first full time teaching position, he asked if I would like to stay at home. Instead, I finished my library master’s degree during the next two summers while he wrote up his research for publication.

It was not until I worked on my doctorate in information science that I had the chance to live in campus housing to meet the two-semester residency requirement. This gave me the experience of being on my own that I had missed earlier. I involved my self fully in campus life while my husband "bach'd." Again, I was immersed in new ideas.

Often I think of Edith Jones, who worked in the Mac library after retiring from high school teaching. In her eighties, she would stand tall while speaking to groups about her travels to overseas Quaker work sites. I am lucky to work as an academic librarian in a time and in a system where I am not required to retire and yet I have three months each year to read, travel, hike, and take part in professional and community activities. My greatest joy continues to be my husband, son, daughter, and our four granddaughters. Recently we set up our own family foundation that gives small grants to community groups. We meet as a family twice a year to discuss and apportion funds that come from farms we inherited.

What I learned at Mac is that the exchange of ideas and the interaction of people of all ages and diverse backgrounds are not only exciting but also basic to personal growth and community health. I learned that a campus is not an ivory tower but a part of the neighborhood, the country, and the world. See you all in June.

After graduating as a Medical Technologist, I began my career at the University of Minnesota Heart Hospital in biomedical research. I married and had a family of four children. I was fortunate to be a homemaker for the next 17 years. When our youngest was in first grade I returned to work in the Clinical Laboratory. I also was in instructor of Laboratory Medicine at Anoka Vo-Tech for a number of years. The opportunity to return to research came in 1987 and I was able to be in the field of cancer research at the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. After four years, I began working at Lakeland Academy as a clinical chemistry instructor and writer of curriculum until I retired in 1995. Macalester gave me excellent tools to carve out an exciting career in a field that I loved. We are in Minnesota for five summer months and spend the remainder of the year in Florida. It is the best of both worlds including family and fun.

The opportunity to attend Macalester in the 1950s has had a lasting effect upon my life. The philosophy on campus was one of commission to mission. The mission was to encourage service to family, community and the world. Mac fostered our faith and civic mindedness. My Macalester friends have made this world a better place.