Annette Prince:  

50 Years already??? Good Grief! I still feel like 1990s weren't all that long ago... From HS I went right into the work world. When not working, I was involved in Young Adult Ministry, where I eventually met my husband. I was also involved with ACOA. Took classes at Wright Jr and DePaul. Earned an AA from Oakton and BA from NEIU. Almost had an MA from NEIU; which I missed getting by one test that I just couldn't pass. Got married in 1982. No children; our choice. Raised several dogs, and spent much time helping our families, until parents had passed away. We went thru 10 years of hip replacements (him) and numerous foot surgeries (both of us). We were involved with Marriage Encounter for about 10 years, and tried some couples counseling. Before our marriage ended in 2012. Carried basics of 'secretarial' work that I learned at Von, and pursued office work.. Considered searching out 'senior secretarial work' but, at that time, a main aspect was the use of 'shorthand'. I could read and write it, but not at the speed required and demanded. Few times that it was pushed on me, I couldn't read what I had written and had to rely on memory. I learned to keep it off my resume, and refuse to do it. When I realized it was used mostly in corporate, I stayed with non-profit; hospitals and education. The position I retired from was at Oakton Community College. I was the admin asst. for a federally funded program called 'TRIO". Its aim is to provides funds for assisting first generation students thru the collegiate process. The focus of my position changed greatly in 20 years from assisting with student communication, budget and record keeping to almost exclusively data collection. The evolution of electronic communication eliminated the need for mailings and many bosses kept on top of their own schedules. As the expectations for academic accreditation became heavier, the demand for record keeping and statistics to provide accomplishments grew. The last five years I spent most of my time entering and researching stats for reporting to the college as well as as the feds. It was fun and challenging until the new generati...Expand for more