Michele Certoma:  

Wow! I can't believe it has been almost 30 years since we graduated. I have very fond memories of PTHS. I remember my first day of 9th grade. I had just arrived from a small town in Alabama and Mr. McDonald made me stand up and introduce myself to the band class. Of course everyone got a huge laugh out of my very southern accent. My number one goal was to get rid of that accent. I did such a good job that people always tell me that I have no accent. After graduating, I moved back to my hometown, New Orleans. It was a rude awakening for me because it was the first time that I lived with my father since him and my mom divorced when I was five years old. I never figured out how him and mom ever got together because they were on opposite sides of the spectrum. Anyway, I started college at the University of New Orleans and loathed it. After experiencing the nightlife in New Orleans for the first time, all I could think about was going out and having fun. I decided to put school on hold and ended up getting a great job a Tulane Medical School working as a program coordinator for the Cystic Fibrosis clinic (I thought of Georgine Ems a lot during my time there). The next chapter of my life began when I got married in 1981 and had two boys (they are now 20 and 26). I will not delve too deep in that period because it was not one of the smartest choices I made in my life. Not the boys, of course, but the hu...Expand for more