Tempe High School Class of 1969

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Tempe High School Class of 1969 - If you could do it over........

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Body:	<i>Gail, As I read these posting about what might have been, it seems so easy to forget that 40 years that have past since we were making our earliest life choices. We all stand on the shoulders of many courageous, risk-taking, and successful individuals who changed the social mores and who altered the political landscape by changing legislation, initiating equity for marginalized groups of people, creating opportunities for higher education for the less elite and less financially well off (loans and grants were not readily available until the early “90s) and so much more. As we reflect on our decisions, we must also remember to reframe them in the context of the times in which we made them. For many women, especially first generation college attendees, teaching (humanities like English are included here) and nursing were the choices we saw as easily attainable……without the cultural capital of those who were mentored into less traditional professions for women like medicine (animal or human ;-), many of us simply followed the existing path into higher education. Only recently did I recognize this in my own life when it was pointed out to me that I had been essentially discriminated against in high school. During the May of our junior year, I broke my right wrist at a JCL banquet. Thus, I needed “accommodations” to complete my final exams that year. Mrs. Lamberts allowed me to dictate my Latin final, my dad typed my history paper, but when my second year Algebra teacher, (Mr. Knoche) was asked to return in June to administer the final, he refused saying that a girl doesn’t need advanced math. Technically, he was right and my parents deferred to the system. I only recently reviewed my early work and realized that my highest ACT test score was in natural science (not English)…..it was collectively overlooked. These are not things that would likely occur today given the progress we have made regarding gender equality, educational opportunity, and parental involvement. Having said all this….I have no regrets really….as it as so eloquently been said: I am what I am! I had the best time of my life living on campus in a graduate dorm at the UA while earning my Ph.D. Something I could never have even conceived of when I was an undergrad studying English!! And this was only a few years ago….after we put our children through college!! Many women our age were trailblazers making it easier for our daughters and granddaughters (or even us) to identify their passions and follow their dreams! Our world continues to be a better place as a result. I am looking forward to cheering them on to heights we can’t even imagine. </i> *
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