judy hassouneh:
CLASS OF 1957
Sacramento High SchoolClass of 1957
Sacramento, CA
judy's Story
I was the (sort of) nerd who got straight A's in everything and who had absolutely no social skills. Was so shy that when anyone said hello to me in the hall, I wouldn't answer. (I was sure they couldn't possibly be addressing me, and oh, the horror if I were to reply and then find out they REALLY not addressing me. ) My family was poor and so I wore the same 2 outfits all the time. Took typing and practiced my keyboarding on a sheet of paper because I didn't have access to an actual typewriter. Majored in dance and went on to become a ballet teacher because dance was the only thing that presente a challenge...I was not built for it. Married a Palestinian at age 19, converted to Islam at age 30, not because of my husband, but in spite of him. He wasn't any example of what a muslim should be, but when we moved to Olympia I got to know some practicing muslims, learned about Islam, and discovered (much to my surprise), that the teachings of Islam were what I had always believed At that time I gave up dance (and that wasn't easy) because Muslim women do not perform
Went on to teach Arabic and Quran at the Northgate mosque in Seattle. We lived in the university district then.
In 1979, my husband went to work in Kuwait, and never came back. I found out later that he married another woman. She insisted on our divorcing because she wanted a green card. I tried to drag my feet (divorce shakes the throne of Allah) but when he wrote that if I didn't hurry up, he would get rid of me another way, I decided it was preferable to be divorced than to be dead.
At tht point I had a highschool diploma and had been a housewife for 21 years. Our neohew was friendly with a girl who was a unit secretary at University Hospital. It was walking distance from our house. When she described her job, I though "I could do that." So I applied and related my life experiences to every aspect of the job. They hired me!
I worked there for six years and realized that I would never be able to support my family comfortably as a unit secretary. Working as an RN in the NICU, which was where I wanted to be, required a 4 year degree. I applied ...Expand for more
to the University of Washington, not because they were the number 1 school of nursing in the nation, (which they were) but because it had the cheapest tuition in town. Worked 10 hour night shifts on weekends, ran a boarding house, parented my children as best I could, and graduated with a 3.9 in 4 years. I managed the time frame by skipping the prereq's (such as the math classes leading up to 105(pre-calculus) because the 105 was the only class the school of nursing. That was challenging, because my previous math class had been 29 years prior.t I did get an A, but I was challenge. In the senior there was a tragedy in the family which necessitated my married daughter to go into hiding, leaving me with her 3 year old and 6 year old. After graduation we moved to Portland, literally in the middle of the night. We told no one we were leaving and severed all contqct with out friends.
I ended up working as a staff RN for Kaiser in a post surgical unit. I retired from there after my 70th birthsay.
Meanwhile, I studied Healing Touch and Energy Medicine. I became a healing touch certified practitioner in 2005.
My intention was to open a practice upon retiring from hospital nursing. But upon my retirement, my adult daughter (she and her 6 child live with me) announced her intention to go to school full time. She is, and going for a doctorate in pharmacy. The onlu problem with that is that some one has to take care od the home, children, meals, etc. WSo I guess I'm not really retired yet....just tired (that was a ha, ha (sort of).
Anyway, my 4 children are doing well. The oldest (with her husband) runs a trucking company. She is also going for her 2nd master's degree. The next girl is a professor at OHSU, teaching other PhD's, girl #3 is the one at home. She is separated now, and has been for 5 years, so no more mama's, But 6 are a good number..she is the one in school full time. And last, my son, has a managerial position at Microsoft and is doing very well.
Sorry, I don't know how to put my picture with this...computers are not my thing. But if you go to facebook, under judy hassouneh, my picture is there.
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