Jo Ann Scherer:
CLASS OF 1973
Delta High SchoolClass of 1973
Delta, CO
Glenwood Springs Junior High SchoolClass of 1969
Glenwood springs, CO
Washington Irving Junior High SchoolClass of 1969
Colorado springs, CO
Stratton Elementary SchoolClass of 1967
Colorado springs, CO
Will Rogers Elementary SchoolClass of 1967
Colorado springs, CO
Jo Ann's Story
It's been a great life so far. I've spent years traveling in 80 countries (Europe, Asia, South America, Middle East, North Africa, Pacific islands, Mexico, the Caribbean).
After high school I studied acting and dance, and got an A.A. degree in Theater from Mesa. That was a great time. I did summer theater, too, and a couple of melodramas for Deltarado days - got hissed at as a villainess, that was fun.
After working in Denver a while I took my first trip to Europe for 5 months (Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Italy, Morocco, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal).
I went to C.U. Boulder and studied arts, literature, film, languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish), and got a B.A. German & Humanities (summa cum laude). During that time I went on several more trips to Europe (the usual plus Russia, Israel, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Hungary), and studied a year at the University of Regensburg, Germany as an exchange student. A couple of summers I waitressed - that was really fun, too. (Got my start at Dairy King during high school)!
Then I got a job overseeing an exhibit of high-end American Indian art as it travelled through Bavaria (south Germany) for 5 months. From there I went to live in Genoa, Italy for 7 months and travelled a lot from there (added Corsica and Sardinia to the list).
Back to Denver and Boulder for a little while, travelled in the U.S. for a CAD/CAM company supervising the setup and breakdown of their trade show exhibits.
Then I got a Master's in German from CU, during which I got to teach my own German classes (101, 102, and 201). That was one of my favorite jobs ever. I also studied another year at the University of Regensburg, Germany on a graduate fellowship. Took several more trips around Europe, to favorite places and added Turkey and Bulgaria to the list.
In 1988 I moved to Boston and was the senior Administrator for a group of Harvard research projects (AIDS and substance abuse). Boston was wonderful, I took a lot of fun classes (drawing, oil painting, art lectures, photography, knitting), travelled a lot in New England, went to Puerto Rico. Lived in Marblehead and Beacon Hill, which are gorgeous.
Then I took 9 months to travel around the Pacific (Tahiti, Hawaii, Rarotonga, Fiji), New Zealand, Au...Expand for more
stralia, and the Pacific rim of Asia (Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sulawesi, Komodo, Thailand, etc.). Came home for the 20th high school reunion, then went back to live in Japan.
I taught English in Japan for four years. That was my other favorite job ever. Tokyo is one of the absolute best places in the world, there's something new to do every day. There's an area called Roppongi where all the international clubs are (Irish pubs, German pubs, anything you can imagine) where you'll find all the expats. Friends got me started going salsa dancing at a Peruvian dance club, where I met my husband.
We had to go to Peru to get his visa for the U.S. While we were waiting we travelled 7 months around Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Easter Island. It was great. We even hiked the Inca trail, several days of orchids and parrots and getting rained on, then you walk down to Macchu Picchu at sunrise. Awesome. There were riots in Bolivia and Chile, that got pretty hairy and we got tear gassed a couple of times, but it was still great.
After getting married in Denver we lived in Delta a year, then moved to Boston and I went back to work for the Harvard projects. Then we went to Asia for 7 months, to Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, China, India, Tibet, Nepal, and Thailand.
Then we ended up in Connecticut. I worked for Yale Med School for a few years, as the Grant Coordinator for the Pathology Department. Lots of weekend trips around New England, and fun classes (writing, getting published, poetry, belly dancing, seeing auras, meditation). Then my parents started getting sick, and there were three years very difficult years trying to take care of them, then dealing with the mess the property was left in. My husband and I got divorced, but we're still really good friends.
Now I've come full circle and Colorado is home. I was working on two novels before my parents got sick, finishing those is always just around the corner.
I've started a little business called Firefly Garden Designs, selling my own handmade jewelry and hand-sewn artworks and home items. No business degree, so startup was a little wild, but it's a lot of fun.
My favorite places are Easter Island, Tahiti, Israel, Bali, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Bavaria, Borneo, Italy, Hawaii, Cambodia, Peru, France, Corsica, Greece, Tibet, Chile, and the Rockies.
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