TRUE WORDS

I grew up near a state teaching college, and my education began, in a sense, as someone else’s practice ground. Through the end of sixth grade, I attended the college’s summer school, where student teachers learned their profession by working with children like me. Looking back, I believe that experience planted the idea of teaching in my mind long before I chose it for myself.

At fourteen, my parents enrolled me in a secretarial school to learn typing. I was the youngest student in the class by several years, studying alongside high school graduates and working women. Those skills quickly opened professional doors. During the summers before and throughout college, I worked in the main office of what is now CIGNA, typing agents’ proposals and covering the reception desk for the company’s top agent whenever he traveled.