Jennifer Clarke:
CLASS OF 1988
Illini Bluffs High SchoolClass of 1988
Glasford, IL
Bradley UniversityClass of 1993
Peoria, IL
Jennifer's Story
School
My favorite teacher was Mrs Predmore.
College
I spent my first semester at Iowa State. I started there with the intention of studying Aerospace Engineering. After changing my major to Mechanical Engineering, I returned to Peoria to go to Bradley. Hindsight being 20/20, that was a very good decision, considering the aerospace market took a dive! I spent the next 4 1/2 years at Bradley and working various part-time jobs to put myself through school. It was there that I had a great time and met some very good friends, including my husband Dave.
Workplace
After graduation, I moved to Dubuque, IA to join my soon-to-be-husband, Dave. He had graduated a year before me and landed a job at John Deere, also in Mechanical Engineering (go figure). I also ended up going to work at Deere. I spent my first 2 1/2 years working in Engine Manufacturing evaluating engine performance and test. That was a good time, but very loud. My last 2 1/2 years there I spent in Crawler/Dozers designing the cooling package for the 700H dozer. That was a very "cool" job.
In 1998, we transferred to John Deere ...Expand for more
Zweibrücken in Germany. I had intended to work there too, but after considering the needs of the kids and the fact that the Germans make it quite difficult for moms to work (family is very important to them - they get 3 year maternity leave so childcare is scarce!), I ended up taking a leave of absence from Deere. That was one of the best times of my life, although one of the most difficult too. There were only 2 American families in that region. Therefore, I learned a new language out of sheer necessity, but made some life-long German friends along the way too. What an experience.
After returning to the states, I tried returning to work for a while, but decided being a full-time mom was much better. I now do a lot of "mom" things and volunteer at their schools and our church a lot. On the side, for 12 weeks out of each college semester, I run a German afterschool program for elementary kids through Loras College. Once our youngest goes to kindergarten, maybe I'll actually go back and finish the German degree I started working towards when we returned. We'll see. Don't know what I'd do with it.
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