Embedded Files
This transcript marks the first chapter of my college education, from 1985 to 1989. For a long time, I saw it as evidence that I had failed to finish. Now I see it as evidence that the story was still open.
I started college in 1985, right after graduating from high school in Tucson, Arizona. That fall, I went to the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico with a theatre major, a suitcase, and the absolute certainty that I would be a movie star by 25.
There are many charming things about being 17. Accurate long-term forecasting does not usually make the list.
I had never lived away from home. I was painfully awkward, closeted, and trying to become a person in public without having much privacy with myself. I made it through the first semester of my senior year before depression, anxiety, and substances finally pulled the emergency brake. In 1989, I left school without finishing my degree. I thought there had to be a better way!
For years, that felt like the end of the story.
It wasn’t. It was a very long intermission.
Paused forty years; learned on purpose.
This recreated image shows the first office process I redesigned: handwritten acknowledgement cards transformed into an automated print-and-mail workflow using Word tables, DOS commands, custom templates, and macros. Several hours became less than 40 minutes.
By the mid-90s The business world shifted from analog to digital while I was building my career. Windows 95, Word, Excel, Access, floppy disks, dial‑up internet – everyone was learning on the fly. One office assignment required me to hand‑write memorial and in‑honor donation cards on expensive cardstock. With my dyslexia and terrible handwriting, the task took hours and produced piles of spoiled cards. "There has got to be a better way!" I remember thinking. One day I picked up the thick Windows manual, taught myself enough DOS and Word automation to build a custom mail‑merge. I measured the cards to the millimeter, created a template, wrote macros and built a simple table for the acknowledgement data. Load the cards and press CTRL+E: the printer merged text and calligraphy font onto the cards. Load the envelopes and press CTRL+W: the addresses printed automatically. What once took several hours now took under forty minutes. Nobody told me to automate that process—I just refused to believe that tedious busywork was the only option.
As the job market changed, degrees became a gatekeeper even for experienced workers. In June 2025, I was laid off from my role as a tenant education coordinator at a nonprofit. After a year of searching, I heard my familiar mantra again: “There’s got to be a better way to do this.” I decided to finish the degree I had abandoned decades earlier. My old college had closed, so I tracked down a copy of my transcript and applied to Eastern Oregon University, which has a strong online program for transfer students. Because my 1980s grades were rough, EOU required a recommendation letter. One of my former theatre professors – who once gave me a D in costume design – wrote the letter and vouched for me. She emphasized my growth and resilience. EOU admitted me provisionally for fall 2025. Life has a sense of humor; the professor who almost failed me helped me get back to school.
When I applied to return to school, Eastern Oregon University requested a recommendation because of my old grades. One of my former theatre professors, who had given me a D in costume design, wrote the letter. She vouched for my growth, and EOU admitted me provisionally for Fall 2025.
My “glory file” is a collection of professor comments, thank-you notes, and reminders that effort leaves evidence. Some days, confidence is a feeling. Other days, it needs documentation and a little folder with your name on it.
Comments from Professors - Spring 2026.docxAssignment Grades & Comments From Professors
Assignment Grades & Comments From Professors
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Now I am a full-time student, a few months away from graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies, with minors in Theatre and Sociology/Anthropology. I have a 4.0 average and a “glory file”—a collection of professor comments and graded assignments that I read when I need encouragement or before interviews.
Going back to school later in life taught me that learning is active, not passive. I’m not chasing a degree to prove my worth but savoring the process itself. Wherever this chapter leads, I know that familiar phrase will come with me: “There’s got to be a better way to do this.” That usually means I’m about to learn something.
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