College Elementary School Sixth Grade Class of 1959

Over the years I've realized what an important role the College El played
in my life.  At times I feel that I am still trying to get back to that 12
year old girl in Mr. Anson's 6th grade class who was sure that nothing
could stop her from realizing her dreams. Now that I am a teacher myself, I
value all the more the empowering environment that my teachers at the
College El created for me and my friends. They helped me gain a sense of
confidence in myself and a passion for learning which has been a touchstone
throughout my life.
 

Even though I said I'd never become a teacher like my dad, mom and sister,
that's what I've ended up becoming. For about 14 years after graduating
from Michigan State in 1969 I was a free-lance public artist and
illustrator in East Lansing, Michigan and in Buffalo New York. Although I
loved this work, I decided to go back to school to study an earlier love,
anthropology. In 1982 I entered graduate school and at SUNY Buffalo and
earned a Ph.D. in 1991. During my first year of grad school I met Mike
O'Malley and his two children, Gabe and Krish, who were 9 and 11 at the
time. In 1991 Mike and I were married. We now have a grandson, T.J. who is
10 years old.  We've always had a few cats and a dog. Our current dog,
Angelika, is a mix of black lab and great dane. Mike is a substance abuse
counselor working in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.  I teach
anthropology at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces where I have been
since 1995.  Before coming to NMSU I taught for three years at Central
Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut.
 

Through my work as an anthropologist in Chiapas, Mexico, I have been
fortunate to learn first hand about a way of life very different from my
own. In the late 1980s I lived with a native family in San Pedro Chenalhó,
a rural township of Chiapas. During this time I acquired two godsons and
many friends. I also began working to expand fair trade markets for women
weavers.  Then in 1994 the Zapatista uprising occurred. During the last 6
years, life has been a seesaw of hope and despair for people in Chiapas,
and sometimes for me. For a while I couldn't enter the township for fear of
being deported or of bringing reprisals to my friends. Since Fox became
president of Mexico the situation is improving.  I'm looking forward to my
first sabbatical leave in 2002 during which time I hope to work on life
histories with 9 or 10 women about their experiences during the tumultuous
decades of the 1980s and 1990s.
 

My dad still lives in Mt. Pleasant. As a retired CMU faculty member, he
enjoys all the musical and sports activities on campus.  Since my mom
passed away in September 1999, my dad has been keeping company with Lucille
Wysong whose son, Rocky, and I went to College El together. I had hoped to
get back in touch with Rocky through his mom, but Rocky died in 1999.  Now
that I have finished putting my own page together for the College El web
site, I plan to ask Lucille if she would like me to put a page together in
Rocky's honor.