Marcia Specht
One day in our senior year, Miss Van Wart asked me to stop after class. Those of you who had her remember the sheer terror a request like that could cause. It turned out she only wanted to suggest that I consider majoring in math in college, at the time the furthest thing from my mind. As it turned out, I did major in math at Wells and then went to Harvard for a Masters in Teaching mathematics. I taught for three years in Weston (MA) but decided after that to take a year off and see if there really was life after Geometry. I went to work at the Harvard Business School as a computer programmer trainee and spent the rest of my career as a techie (later management-techie).
When I turned 30 and was officially “on the shelf” (what ever happened to all those cute guys in the Class of 56?) I moved back to Long Island. For the last 22 years of my working career, I was in the international computer support group at Estee Lauder in Melville. It was a great job for me because I was able to combine work that I loved with tooling around the globe, which I also loved.
Four years ago, the company had an early retirement offer and I decided to take it and treat myself to some leisure time. I’ve been taking courses, doing volunteer work, visiting old friends around the country, going to the opera - just fooling around. It’s GREAT. My eight nieces and nephews have co-produced eight babies in the last six years, so, although I am not a grandmother, I am relearning how to hop and skip, sing and dance, and enjoy books about mice and pigs. Life is good. I hope I make the next reunion!
