Judith Pirkle DeLany:  

Life doesn't always turn out as we planned. Most of the time, we don't plan at all, we just move through the weeks and months, letting life unfold. Along the way, I truly believe that life prepares us for what lies around the next bend - but leaves it up to us to spot the opportunities and make the most of them. Life prepared me for a wonderful adventure. When I reflect on high school, I can see how Mr. J's dissection class laid the foundation for me to professionally lecture on anatomy and musculoskeletal health for the past 35 years. Public speaking and speech writing was a scary task in those days, but it allowed me to make my living traveling all over the world to talk professionally on subjects that I passionately love. Those creative writing classes were not my favorite at the time, but they gave me base skills to complete three academic textbooks, with two now in 2nd editions. Math is jammed into all the cracks and corners as I balance the company's funds, negotiate percentage-based contracts and stretch the promotional dollars. Best of all, Mr. Mac's band program (and Mr. Hamme's in jr. high) exposed ...Expand for more