"Upon graduation from Mount Holyoke College in 1955, I expected to..."

 
Hi, I'm Jane Barth, member of the class of 1955. When I graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1955, I think the expectations of the community were that I would A: find a job and perhaps stay in the job for a while before I was married. I did indeed find a job upon graduation. I was a physics major and I found a job that was related to my field in physics. So….and that was in Williamstown, MA. I thought that that job would be rewarding and very fulfilling, and it was in many regards, but I learned shortly thereafter that one of my goals was not earning a lot of money. One of my goals was to be associated with people and helping people and I think Mount Holyoke nurtured that in me. So, I decided, after a couple of years in that job, that I wasn't interested in staying in industry. I would move on to something else. So I went back to graduate school. I had taught swimming while I was at Mount Holyoke because I had taken a lifesaving course and I thought I would teach swimming. And I had enjoyed teaching. So, I thought that would be my career of choice and indeed that was and for 30 years I endeavored in that field. And I found the job in teaching was much more fulfilling and rewarding, not monetarily, because I started in the same salary in teaching as I started at in industry. But it was much more rewarding in that I dealt with people on a daily basis. And that was very important. And I think another goal that I had, and I think it was expected of me, was to be involved in my community. And I think that at Mount Holyoke, a sense of volunteerism and service had been fostered throughout my days here. And I took that up and have carried that on throughout my life. As a retiree, I am majoring in volunteerism and I'm having to learn to say "no" to be involved in my volunteer activities. And so, Mount Holyoke , my education at Mount Holyoke, certainly has allowed me to be able to think that I can change and to be flexible enough to change so that I feel more fulfilled and enriched. And I think that's what part of the education process was, to have something that would enrich me. And it has, from day one, it certainly has. Service and volunteerism, I do think that volunteerism has been a very important part and aspect of my career since, not only in my retirement, but in my daily life since I graduated. I would hope that today's students feel the same things about service to their community and volunteerism, whether it be in politics or other forms of service. I've certainly never been active in politics, but I have been interested in it. But you know, education at Mount Holyoke gives you a lot of things you can be interested in. And you can turn to many, many things, I feel that if there was something I really wanted to do, my Mount Holyoke education had prepared me to adapt to that change and take care and do that. And I've no qualms about going on and trying to venture into something new. And, I think that's an advantage of a liberal arts education over a focused education. Graduate school is a time for focus, but undergraduate school is not a time for focus. I think it's a time to broaden your personal experience and get yourself involved in as many things as you can. In fact, when I came here I certainly was involved in too many things other than academics, and it caused me a little problem in my academic career. I don't regret those problems today because when I went to graduate school, I was able to excel in the field which I chose to and that was great.