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My mother was a graduate of Macalester and persuaded me to travel from Montana to Minnesota to begin my college career at Macalester. After two years at Macalester, I transferred to the University of Minnesota to continue my education and get a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.

I returned to Montana for two years to get experience in a rural hospital. The next two years I worked at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Wanting to be closer to family, I then moved to Seattle, Wash., to work at the University Hospital, now the University of Washington Medical Center. I was head nurse on the Neurosurgery and Neurology nursing unit for 13 years then transferred to administrative roles in the Medical Director's Office. In that department I worked in utilization review and with the patient care coordinators, who assist patients through our complicated health care system.

After 37 years at the Medical Center, I retired in 1999 from my position as administrative liaison to the medical director. Since then I have been busy with family, church and volunteer work. I haven't really left nursing, just the workplace. I continue to work with the homeless through Multifaith Works and my church, volunteering and assisting those in need, and traveling to Montana.

I have great appreciation for my two years at Macalester and for Dr. Walters, my Zoology professor. Without Dr. Walter's guidance, I would not have had a career in nursing.