Online community for GCC alumni
OLP '82 grad seeking other OLP grads
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How about hosting some OLP reunions at AEE regional and international meetings? The next Northeast Regional in April in Becket could be one possibility coming up soon. And perhaps a local/western Mass alum gathering/trip tales swap/or such?
Mary
OLP '82 Alum eager to hear from other OLP grads
Howdy,
I was a student in the second year of the OLP, 81-82, and would love to hear from other folks from that year or other years of OLP. I worked in therapeutic adventure programs and women's outdoor trips through the 80s. At some point, I realized I'd rather focus on outdoor activities for fun and earn a living doing something else. So, I got a M.Ed. at UMASS in Organizational Development and worked as a consultant/trainer related to social justice issues and multicultural organizational development. Since the mid-90s, I've been a freelance writer, editor, researcher and book indexer. One of my favorite new clients is GCC. . .writing for the GCC Page in the Recorder as well as for other projects.
Even though I haven't worked in the outdoor field for years, I use what I learned in the OLP about group dynamics, group leadership, and outdoor living regularly and often. As a community activist who has stood in a peace vigil on the Greenfield Town Common almost every Saturday for the past 6+ years, I often see myself as the "base camp manager" for the vigil. When it's snowy or 15 degrees and breezy, I'm the one checking in with everyone to make sure they are warm enough, handing out ginger tea and extra hats and mittens, just like I did when I was leading outdoor trips. Once an outdoor leader, always an outdoor leader!
So, what are you up to? Any great work/trip tales to tell? Memories of your time in the OLP? Do tell!
Mary
I was a student in the second year of the OLP, 81-82, and would love to hear from other folks from that year or other years of OLP. I worked in therapeutic adventure programs and women's outdoor trips through the 80s. At some point, I realized I'd rather focus on outdoor activities for fun and earn a living doing something else. So, I got a M.Ed. at UMASS in Organizational Development and worked as a consultant/trainer related to social justice issues and multicultural organizational development. Since the mid-90s, I've been a freelance writer, editor, researcher and book indexer. One of my favorite new clients is GCC. . .writing for the GCC Page in the Recorder as well as for other projects.
Even though I haven't worked in the outdoor field for years, I use what I learned in the OLP about group dynamics, group leadership, and outdoor living regularly and often. As a community activist who has stood in a peace vigil on the Greenfield Town Common almost every Saturday for the past 6+ years, I often see myself as the "base camp manager" for the vigil. When it's snowy or 15 degrees and breezy, I'm the one checking in with everyone to make sure they are warm enough, handing out ginger tea and extra hats and mittens, just like I did when I was leading outdoor trips. Once an outdoor leader, always an outdoor leader!
So, what are you up to? Any great work/trip tales to tell? Memories of your time in the OLP? Do tell!
Mary
Comment Wall (6 comments)
- At 4:41pm on December 8, 2008,
Peter Ripley said… - Hi Mary, the quote looks great. My e-mail is jakpmr@comcast.net. Let me know if I can assist your article in any other manner.
- At 2:30pm on December 8, 2008,
Regina Curtis said… - Hi, Mary - just checking out the site. You've been wildly busy on it!
- At 7:56pm on December 7, 2008,
Peter Ripley said…
- Hi Mary
I did see the posting on AlumNet but have not had a chance to respond until now. To answer your questions, first it is easier for me to communicate via e-mail. With four kids and a busy medical practice that gives me the flexibility that I need.
My reason for joining AlumNet is to attempt to make connections with GCC alums and provide an insider's perspective on a road less travelled. GCC was an amazing experience for me. I was heavily into the academics and my friends were my faculity and a handful of students that unfortunately I have not kept up with. Rob Yacubian, recently retired from GCC, is my sole continuous contact. Nonetheless, my time at GCC was pivital and put me on the path to becoming a physican, a most rewarding career.
What I hope to receive from AlumNet is the satisfaction of sharing my experience from high school to GCC to Williams College to University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. I'd love to spread the word that two years at GCC can place a student on the road to attaining an MD degree. I'd love to brag about the impressive faculity and quality course work at GCC but I would be preaching to the choir! I am more interesting in giving something back to the institution that has given me so much.
So my goal is to provide encouragement and advice, just like Rob did for me, for students or interested parties who are pursuing the medical field. I'm hoping that this might be a venue for me to assist capable students at GCC who are interested in become physicians, but perhaps feeling a bit lost or unconfident, in negotiating the pathway to medical school more effectively. But most importantly, I want the students to recognize the value of their time at GCC.
Mary, thanks for your interest.
Peter Ripley
- At 3:37pm on December 6, 2008,
Mark Burton said… - Mary, I wasn't in the OLP, but I just wanted to reply and thank you for your sustained social justice efforts. Some of us try to engage regularly, and sometimes we just can't commit the time. But I'm grateful those who do, and my spirit is with you.
Nearly two years ago, on a lark I attended the meeting at one of the Greenfield schools with Cindy Sheehan and others (I say on a lark because I live in the DC area and just happened to be in Ashfield that weekend). She inspired me to march on the Pentagon the folliwing weekend, and this further inspired me to write to the editor of the Washington Post to report what I saw and ask why there's so much animosity in the world. My letter was published, and my point in mentioning this is to say that Greenfield touches the wider world in ways we don't always know. It's a wonderment that places like Franklin County exist and that voices for peace and justice emerge from there and are heard. So again, you have my sincere gratitude.
- At 12:14pm on December 3, 2008,
Sasha Schiller said… - Nick, Gemma, Marge Vanderheld, Elijah's Ride Rd. Tha is about all I know about where they live. They went to GCC also.
- At 11:56am on December 3, 2008,
Sasha Schiller said…
- Hi Mary,
I will write more later, but when I saw you're from Conway I thought of my friends the Vanderhelds. Do you happen to know the family?
Sasha Schiller
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