Leslie Van:
CLASS OF 1987
Benson Polytechnic High SchoolClass of 1987
Portland, OR
Pennsauken Junior High SchoolClass of 1984
Pennsauken, NJ
Merchantville Elementary SchoolClass of 1983
Merchantville, NJ
Binnsmead Middle SchoolClass of 1983
Portland, OR
Youngson Elementary SchoolClass of 1981
Portland, OR
Leslie's Story
Life
Well, life is interesting, isn't it? I finally figured out what I love to do: cooking. So I went back to school in 2004, and have now graduated with highest honors from Western Culinary Institute. I got married in August 2005 to Peter, and we have 3 kids (from previous marriages for both of us); two boys (mine), ages 10 and 7, and one girl (his), age 5. Our life is as full as our house.
I've done just about everything I wanted to do so far. I spent 6 years in the Air Force as a broadcaster, traveling all over the Mediterranean: Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus. I then got out of the AF and went to work at PSU, as an undergraduate business advisor. After almos...Expand for more
t 6 years there, I quit work and moved to California and stayed home with my kids for 3 years. After I got divorced, I moved back to Portland to start over. At which point I realized I had no clue what I really wanted to do, so a lot of soul searching commenced. I met Peter, and his love and support helped me realize that if I really wanted to switch gears in the middle of my life, I could do that, too. So I did.
So there you have it, in a nutshell. I still write a great deal, I still read constantly, I'm still passionate about music and movies (and a few other things as well...). And I had no idea, when I left Benson, that 18 years later I'd be so ridiculously happy.
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