Reach your pinnacle

When people learn that I have a doctorate in psychology, they often assume that I was an exceptional student.  Sure, I had my share of good grades, but I always viewed myself as a willing learner and a good student.

I was the first in my immediate family to graduate from college, but other siblings followed suit. I was among the first in our community to teach in community elementary school. A neighbor, Wes Mooney was the first black on our block to teach professionally.

I was not overly concerned about how others viewed me.  I just quietly enjoyed learning and progressing from one assignment to another, one job to another and one class mastery to another.

In retrospect it seems like a natural progression.

I quietly enjoyed school, feeling comfortable in that structured environment. First grade was in a quaint elementary school in rural Alamo, Tennessee. The structure of the building is a vague memory now, but my recollection of a certain secure and comfortable feeling lingers to this day.

I was happy in my embrace of mediocrity. I viewed myself as just another willing student. There was nothing awkward about attending class, interacting with teachers, classmates and others. Sure, I gladly did my homework and paid rapt attention in class.  But, then, I imagined that all other students did the same thing.

Little did I realize that was far from reality. Why would other pupils not pay attention and do their homework? Such disobedience was beyond the pale for me. Of course, most pupils happily did what they were told as I did.

Ms Brown was my first professional teacher.  She was good at instilling confidence and joy in her pupils.  She radiated a certain glow in an effortless manner. It was her natural state. When you come from a family of nine siblings, it was especially gratifying at last to have my own stuff with no need to share every scrap of paper and pencil with an army of others.  Of course, there were many other eager learners in her class.  Finally I had a whole adult whose only responsibility was to teach me how to read and write. I relished every moment.

I deemed it a special privilege to be selected to sing in a Christmas program.  Of course, I knew that I was no singer. So this assignment was as much baffling to me  as it was an honor.

The next year, reality struck me hard.  I was not selected to sing in the school play.  It took me awhile to figure out that since I no longer had missing front teeth, it was no longer fitting for me to sing the lyrics, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.”

At age 10 in 1952 we moved to Racine, Wisconsin. November enrollment would be awkward to navigate. So when my mother enrolled me into Stephen Bull Elementary School, I had to undergo an oral exam to evaluate my reading level. So the principal and a fifth grade teacher listened to me read Dick and Jane. See him run, run, run. Whatever the actual reading material was, it was a breeze. Just like that I was admitted to the 5th grade in the middle of the school year, having transferred from Tennessee. That was my normal grade level. It was not unheard of that some students transferring from the Deep South were put back a grade because of substandard reading ability.

However, I had no trouble keeping up with classmates; in fact, I often excelled. I gradually recognized that I was in the top 10 percent of the class.

What surprised me was that I had natural ability for other subjects, like art, gymnastics and mechanical drawing.

One teacher was so pleased by my mechanical drawing that he asked me what grade did I think I would get for a particular drawing assignment.  I was startled when he said an A.  I would have guessed a C.

I relished other glimpses of promise that occurred in junior high school. My teacher submitted my drawing for special recognition. I loved assignments in reading magazines.

I am so fortunate to have had several caring and instructive teachers. One was Ralph McIntyre. He asked our high school class, how many planned to attend college.  Most students raised their hands.

Two did not. Mr. McIntyre asked me and another student, A. G. to stay after class to talk with him.  What a surprise that he said that both of us were candidates for college.  He vowed to help us find scholarships.  He then sent us to the office for a school guidance counselor to help us with college placement and funding.

Just like that I would be attending college with a surprised classmate, A. G., the other classmate who did not raise his hand. Happily, that was before the advent of student loans.  So I graduated college without a single student loan.  It was all grants, scholarships and help from parents and older siblings.

School guidance counselors were resourceful and creative, making every effort to help eager students. Although I was accepted to the University of Wisconsin, they did not offer me a scholarship. Blackburn College did.

Still other grants and scholarships helped pay for what Blackburn did not. My first year was nearly all paid for on my behalf.

After graduating from Blackburn College, I landed a teaching position at Howell Elementary School.  Later I transferred to Stephen Bull Elementary School.

That was the era of the true community school.  For example, before school started I visited all the students and their parents in their homes.  So we were already acquainted by the first day of school.

A neighbor, Wes Mooney, was a little older than I was.  So he was the first from the block to start teaching. He was quickly recruited by the phone company and ended up running his own commercial real estate brokerage firm in Milwaukee.

Once I was on the teaching staff at Stephen Bull, I got the scoop on my younger sibling from Ms. Monson, a colleague.  But that is beyond the scope of this composition to dish out the facts on Charles, Shirley and Carolyn. They can all be glad that they escaped by the hair of their chiny-chin-chin.

The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 created the Head Start program as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. The programs it introduced like busing and other interventions were traumatic for students and stressful to parents.  In fact, it disrupted many of the highly recommended programs that were so successful for years.

Since I already had a college degree and work experience, it was a good fit to jump into business.  The fact that my husband was already in pharmaceutical sales made him a good sounding board for ideas in the business world.

So when affirmative action was enacted, I was ideally prepared to start working for Xerox Corporation. In fact, the fit was so good that I worked there until I retired.

Having done business in Milwaukee, Minnesota, Rhode Island and back to Wisconsin, this gave me invaluable insights into opportunities beyond sales.

Since I already had my master’s degree, it was easy to see the next step. A door was open by the Displaced Homemaker Program which offered funding for me to obtain a doctorate degree in psychology.

Freelancing led to staff openings in research and testing. My goal, however, was to practice clinical psychology. I did an internship at St. Mary’s Hospital in Racine. Designated courses were available and funding was obtained. The bear was, then, the dissertation that had to be slain. It was all downhill after that.

Once I had all the required certifications I opened my own private practice in thriving Milwaukee.  Being self-employed brought the challenge of finding clients.  So pro bono services helped solved that in the wake of a series of local disasters. Gradually the stigma of dealing with mental health issues was waning and my professional reputation was on the upswing.  My name spread throughout the community.  Thus I built my clientele.

Then I could do in-depth assessments and really help the community.

At first I worked for Family Services of Milwaukee. David Huffman, a psychologist, left, creating a vacuum. They needed a psychologist and there I was. So it was a good fit and right on time.

For me psychology was a second career. So after 12 years of running my private practice, I was ready to retire.

Summary: 7

I always tell my family to do what you love. Do your best at each assignment and be ready for the next step in the endless chain in the progression of life. With the academic credentials and the  experience to match you will progress to your pinnacle.