Dian D. Chapman:  

Life After Portage Park in 1971...it was off to Schurz HS from 71-75. I then attended Robert Morris college where I obtained a secretarial degree. I enjoyed working for the Canadian Consulate in Chicago for 12 years and got to meet many diplomats, as well as the first Canadian Mt. Everest team. Very exciting hearing their harrowing stories and getting their autographs while I was their hostess during their visit! After Canada, I moved into the financial computer software industry and soon got more and more into computers. This was in the early 90s as computers were just being recognized by the masses. I was one of the earlier users of the World Wide Web...getting online back in 1993, when the web was in its infancy. In '94, I started working in various user support groups where Microsoft recognized my problem solving talents and invited me to become one of the first Microsoft MVPs. There were only about 100 of us then...even now, only about 3,000 worldwide receive this award. I've remained an MVP, receiving that distinguished award every year since 1995 until 2015 when I retired from tech work. This allowed me to participate as a beta tester and helped me in my technical career as a solution provider and programmer. I started my own technical consulting business at MouseTrax.com where I helped smart b...Expand for more