Kimberly Sawyer:  

I joined the US Navy after graduation. After six years, with a Bachelor's degree under my belt, I received an honorable discharge as a First Class Petty Officer. I was stationed in Newfoundland (Canada), San Francisco and San Diego. I took a detour to the Phillipines on a military hop to visit my boyfriend who was stationed there briefly onboard a submarine. After the Navy, I went to work for General Dynamics in San Diego for five years, transferring to Tucson when Hughes bought the GD missile business. I have been in Tucson ever since(1993) and I love it! The Sonoran desert is a green and wet oasis compared to the brown, windy Mojave desert we grew up in. I got married in 1993, had three perfect children (now 15, 13, 10), was a stay-at-home mom for nine years, got divorced (2002) and returned to work at Hughes which by that time had become Raytheon Missile Systems. I have been back at work with Raytheon since 2003 and am an International Contracts Manager. General Dynamics funded my MBA (with emphasis in International Business) which enabled my advancement in the company. I have traveled on business to Germany, England, Sweden and Israel and have negotiated contracts with the Israel Ministry of Defense (my toughest customer)! One o...Expand for more