By Anna O'Neill
Q : What was it like growing up in the Midwest, and how does it compare to now living in New England?
A : “I always got to play with my brother and sisters, and I remember a lot playing outside, and because we didn't have street signs or a lot of traffic, you could kind of get lost and do whatever you want... We would just get lost in our entire town because it was so safe at the time that you could just do that, and the parents, you never had to check in… here, now, you have to ride in a car to get from point A to point B, and if you do walk it's pretty dangerous, things aren't close... The style of houses was different, that was probably the biggest thing that drove me nuts, it looks like they are unfinished with the shingles on 3 sides.. And all my friends when they come out they are like what's wrong with "New Englanders", are they poor? Why don't they finish their houses? And i had that same concept too.”
Q : What was it like growing up in the Midwest, and how does it compare to now living in New England?
A : “I always got to play with my brother and sisters, and I remember a lot playing outside, and because we didn't have street signs or a lot of traffic, you could kind of get lost and do whatever you want... We would just get lost in our entire town because it was so safe at the time that you could just do that, and the parents, you never had to check in… here, now, you have to ride in a car to get from point A to point B, and if you do walk it's pretty dangerous, things aren't close... The style of houses was different, that was probably the biggest thing that drove me nuts, it looks like they are unfinished with the shingles on 3 sides.. And all my friends when they come out they are like what's wrong with "New Englanders", are they poor? Why don't they finish their houses? And i had that same concept too.”
Q: What is your family like?
A: “I am the youngest child of four children and my mom and dad are both teachers... My dad was a band teacher and my mom was a fourth grade teacher, I had two older sisters and a brother...I was born in Lincoln, Illinois, my mom always tells the story that I was born on stage because there we're all these medical students watching in… My parents we're 21 when they got married, my mom said when she found out she was pregnant with me, i was an oops child, she cried because she didn't know how they we're gonna afford it… but they did they figured it out.”
Q: How did you meet your husband?
A: “But I met my husband there, when I was in DC, and I thought he was interesting because I had never really heard anyone from Boston, he had this thick accent and he was kinda showing off and everything. I went to dinner with him, I always think it's one of those things, you know, what made me impulse to get to DC, made me meet him. And those are things that I normally would not have done, but it all had to happen for me to meet him. So I met him, we dated, and then I realized we kinda fell in love.”
Q: What was your high school like? What were you like in high school?
A: “Really small, I had 54 in my grade, 250 in the whole entire high school. And you pretty much went with everybody from kindergarten all the way through high school… I didn't like high school. I was really involved with music, obviously because my dad was the music teacher, I sang in chorus, i played in band and I was very conscientious about my grades… I had some really smart kids in my grade, it was insane, being in our class, it was cool to be smart... If there was AP classes, I probably would have been in them, but our school was too poor. Where I came from, a lot of the kids we're gonna graduate and take over their family farms, so not everybody was pushed to go to college, like the push we are seeing today… I was on the yearbook, national honor society, student council, D.A.R.E, 4H… I was very involved, I ran track, I played basketball, took up tennis and cheer leading.”
Q: Where did you go after college?
A: “I went to college at University of Illinois in Champaign-urbana, and finished my undergrad in marketing. And I had the choice to work for two companies : Van mark or the may company and be a buyer, a clothing buyer. But in the meantime, two professors I had worked for as an undergrad asked me if I would be willing to get my graduate degree and work under them and they would pay for it and I would get a stipend… so for two weeks I agonized about it, and I ended up choosing to go to grad school… That was the hardest decision I think I ever made… I ended up getting my masters in economics and in the meantime I worked. I had always wanted to go to Washington DC, I feel like it was a dream of mine, so when I saw this thing where I could do an internship I applied for it.”
A: “I am the youngest child of four children and my mom and dad are both teachers... My dad was a band teacher and my mom was a fourth grade teacher, I had two older sisters and a brother...I was born in Lincoln, Illinois, my mom always tells the story that I was born on stage because there we're all these medical students watching in… My parents we're 21 when they got married, my mom said when she found out she was pregnant with me, i was an oops child, she cried because she didn't know how they we're gonna afford it… but they did they figured it out.”
Q: How did you meet your husband?
A: “But I met my husband there, when I was in DC, and I thought he was interesting because I had never really heard anyone from Boston, he had this thick accent and he was kinda showing off and everything. I went to dinner with him, I always think it's one of those things, you know, what made me impulse to get to DC, made me meet him. And those are things that I normally would not have done, but it all had to happen for me to meet him. So I met him, we dated, and then I realized we kinda fell in love.”
Q: What was your high school like? What were you like in high school?
A: “Really small, I had 54 in my grade, 250 in the whole entire high school. And you pretty much went with everybody from kindergarten all the way through high school… I didn't like high school. I was really involved with music, obviously because my dad was the music teacher, I sang in chorus, i played in band and I was very conscientious about my grades… I had some really smart kids in my grade, it was insane, being in our class, it was cool to be smart... If there was AP classes, I probably would have been in them, but our school was too poor. Where I came from, a lot of the kids we're gonna graduate and take over their family farms, so not everybody was pushed to go to college, like the push we are seeing today… I was on the yearbook, national honor society, student council, D.A.R.E, 4H… I was very involved, I ran track, I played basketball, took up tennis and cheer leading.”
Q: Where did you go after college?
A: “I went to college at University of Illinois in Champaign-urbana, and finished my undergrad in marketing. And I had the choice to work for two companies : Van mark or the may company and be a buyer, a clothing buyer. But in the meantime, two professors I had worked for as an undergrad asked me if I would be willing to get my graduate degree and work under them and they would pay for it and I would get a stipend… so for two weeks I agonized about it, and I ended up choosing to go to grad school… That was the hardest decision I think I ever made… I ended up getting my masters in economics and in the meantime I worked. I had always wanted to go to Washington DC, I feel like it was a dream of mine, so when I saw this thing where I could do an internship I applied for it.”