Fiftieth College Reunion Assignment - What have you been doing since graduation - in 400 words or less?

 

Myself Surprised – I sometimes joke that should be my epitaph.

After graduation, I pretended I would go to law school, but I didn’t. Instead, I drove West, landing in San Francisco with dreams of becoming the next great American writer. Instead, I dabbled in feminist, political, and union movements, drifting from one form of temporary employment to another. Instead, I embarked on a thirteen-year on again/off again affair with the man I married in 1993. Such exciting times. Work was the last thing on my mind.

Accidentally, I developed a career in accounting and administration – first in law firms, then as a sole proprietor, then in non-profits. Such an unlikely path for an English and East Asian History major! 2024 will close that chapter and although I have had a rewarding career, I will not miss it.

The highlights of these last fifty years have little to do with my profession. Advancement has been more something that happened, rather than something I pursued. Whatever my title – Chief Financial Officer, Vice- President, Chief Operating Officer – the thing that mattered most was mission. For that reason, Mother Jones Magazine, FairTrade USA, and PolicyLink  were the high points.

What mattered more than work? Serving on the negotiating committee of a failed attempt to unionize the Bay  Guardian newspaper, mounting a successful one-woman crusade to get the medical help an injured colleague needed in order to walk again, being a founding member of the first urban Cohousing community in the United States, running for Emeryville City Council, building a rich and happy life.

Failure or success? I ask myself that question often.

Last year, I got a note from Laura, a long-ago colleague. It came out of the blue and warmed my heart as few things have. It said, “Both you and Lynn gave me a model of what female leadership could look like and it has informed my own leadership practices. Strength and empathy, combined with a healthy sense of humor – those are a few things I learned from you.“

Last week, I got a note from Carroll, an even longer-ago colleague. It said, “You were such an amazing, supportive mentor to a very young woman…now that I have 2 daughters of my own – just embarking on their lives – I pray that they too will meet amazing supportive mentors.”

I am coming to believe the needle is tilted towards success.