Alumni Letters | Page 2
| Sharron Wood, 1990: After graduating from Trinity in 1990, I began the PhD program at U.C. Berkeley in Early Modern Europe. But while I was in graduate school I started working part time in travel publishing, editing travel guides to Europe. I soon decided that I liked editing better than reading 15th-century Italian manuscripts, so I left Berkeley with my M.A. to write and edit full time. Since then I've been living in San Francisco, which as far as I'm concerned only has two faults: Housing prices are absurd, and Cal Mex food, while good, does not satisfy a craving for cheese enchiladas from Alamo Cafe. After five years of writing and editing travel guides for Fodor's Travel Publications, I worked as a freelance editor and writer for a year, doing everything from proofreading academic books to developing "Complete Idiots" guides for Simon and Schuster. Working from home gave me lots of flexibility in my schedule, which allowed me to spend more time volunteering. I now spend one morning a week doing the most fun and rewarding volunteer job imaginable: taking care of newborns at the local county hospital. Last year I was wooed away from my freelance work by one of my clients, a start-up on-line travel publication. So now having adjusted to a commute of more than 20 feet and working with shoes on again, I work as Managing Editor of On The Road, which provides high-end destination information to business travelers.
Contact: 3638A 19th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 Phone: 415/861-7857 (home), 415/777-9500 (work) E-mail | Website |
| Susan Boettcher, 1991: I spent Fall 1998 teaching English composition at UW-Fox Valley (thereby becoming one of those people the JHE was talking about in their discussion of whether non English PhDs should be allowed to teach composition) and the spring and summer of 1999 as a post-doc at the Institut fuer europaeische Geschichte in Mainz, Germany, where I worked on dissertation (oops, now it's my "book manuscript" on 16th c. Luther commemoration) revisions and planning my so-called "second book" (which is looking like it might be some kind of a cultural history of German Lutherans from 1555-1648). (I continue to be dazed by the need to plan my academic life one to two years in advance.) I gave a number of papers this summer at different universities, and the highlight was serving as a guide on a student excursion to Prague, where I was responsible for tours and explanations of the medieval Jewish sites in the Old City. Anyway, after a tension filled job search, in Feb. 1999 I accepted a position as Assistant Professor tenure track at the University of Missouri-Rolla--the engineering campus of the University of Missouri. I've been here since mid-August. So far it's a mixed bag. Positives: employment, relatively bright students, my own office, finally being paid to do what I love, super nice colleagues. Negatives: insecurities about profssional ambitions, university politics, isolation, lack of social life, lack of free time for recreation. How well do I like it? By next year I will know for certain. Meanwhile I am planning my next research trip to Germany for December, where I also am planning to spend Summer 1999 (in either Goettingen, Wolfenbuettel, or Emden). I would love to hear from other alumns.
Contact: Department of History, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla MO 65409-1260 | Phone:573-341-4818 | Email |
| Virginia Clark DeCesare, 1991: Believe it or not I am actually one of those History majors that actually went on and did something related to my major. I became a high school history teacher. After I graduated I moved up to Denver and went back to school to get my teacher's certification. I got a job teaching at Cherry Creek High School here in Denver in 1994 and just received tenure (coveted at the high school level too) there. This Spring I began a master's program in history at the University of Colorado at Denver. I really love teaching (as I'm sure you understand) its so fun to be able to relive these incredible periods every year through my kids. Last July I married my college boyfriend Dale DeCesare. We actually decided to come back to the Trinity Chapel to get married by Rev. Judd. Trinity was a very special place to both of us so it only made since that we "make it official" there. So that is my life in a nutshell.
Contact: 1613 S. Humboldt St. Denver, CO 80210 Phone:(303) 722-5169 | Email |
| Marci Auld Glass, 1991: After deciding not to pursue a PhD in History, I ended up in church work. I have been a Presbyterian Youth Educator, in various capacities, since graduation. Currently, I am primary care giver for our two year old son, Alden and am working part time with youth in the Presbytery of Olympia (Washington State). I would love to receive a History Dept mailing, especially with news on new books and articles faculty are publishing. (If I don't educate myself these days, all I really get to learn from is "Good Night Moon" or "Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book". I need all the reading ideas I can get!)
Contact: 5479 Rumac St SE Lacey, WA 98513 Phone:(360)413-5716 | Email |