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All rise--Janet C. Hall '70 is one busy woman. Not only is she president of the MHC Alumnae Association and a new trustee, but Hall was also recently sworn in as a U.S. district judge in Connecticut. She comes from a family of lawyers (her father, uncles, brothers, and husband have practiced law), and is an experienced litigator herself. Hall was made partner of the law firm Robinson & Cole two years after she began work there. Still, Hall told the Hartford Courant, she never allowed herself to believe she would be a candidate for the federal bench. "It's a one in a million thing," Hall said. "You don't think about it. You don't aspire to it. If it happens, it's a blessing." It happened, and she now presides in the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Never call it stupid--Sujeong Shin, director of editorial services in the communications office, spoke at the Women's Business Conference held at MHC on October 22. Women tend to underestimate their abilities and contributions to the workplace, Shin told conference participants, as reported in the Springfield Union-News. "We can be our own worst enemies. We should be careful not to call our efforts silly, stupid, or unimportant." Shin also described her career in advertising, a yearlong, around-the-world trip she took after leaving advertising, and the freelance writing and editing business she built before coming to MHC in 1995.