Kathy Jeffrey:  

Life Although I planned on being a high school art teacher, life has led me in a different direction. Until I retired, I owned my own landscape business. Now I volunteer for several veteran organizations and continue learning. I managed to graduate from college in 9 years of serious traveling to Europe, education, rock-n-roll, and learning about myself as much as about botany. After learning about trees I ended up dressed like one in the Marines. I don't use much of my college education, but almost all of my Marine education; i.e., being responsible, diligent, trustworthy, ethical, detail-oriented, willing to take the time and do what is necessary to get the job done and do it right. My time in the Corps was instrumental in getting to where I am now. I find this to be a great time in my life. I have a husband who is my best friend, a home that is comfortable and friends that make the day go fast. I enjoy my garden (though I have a tendency to redesign it often), a mid-century modern house (that is always undergoing some sort of renovation), and new skills to learn such as woodworking, stained glass, and computer graphics. I have traveled the world and now I am content to be where I am. The Lord has watched over me and I survived bombings, typhoons, motorcycle accidents, and other insanities so I know what ever he had planned for me, he kept me safe to accomplish it. With a life-threatening illness acquired during Desert Storm, He has given me peace and surrounded me with love. I still believe there is much for me to learn and to do. I know that whatever it is, I will have the tools provided. There are more chapters to my life. What they will be is something I am looking forward to. School A school a year, that's all I ask. I'm getting to the point that I can't remember every school or every year. I remember there was Riley, Mound, Whitman, Parkview, General Mitchell, Cudahy Junior, Cudahy Senior, Cuba City High School, Platteville High School, UW Platteville, Madision Area Technical College, UW Madison, Metro State, Red Rocks Community College. There were others, but it's really not important. Needless to say, now that I'm older I just take classes for fun. The grade isn't the thing, having fun learning and learning stuff I want to (even if it isn't easy) is the way to go. I was thisclose to a certificate in fine woodworking but didn't want to take the last class because I had no interest in it. I have taken classes in Spanish, French, Japanese, stained glass, various gardening topics, interpretation for park rangers and the like, accounting, law, management, computer graphics, photography, writing, weapons firing, and forestry. While some were related to my career, others were so I could volunteer with community agencies. I was a state university cooperative extension master gardener, a community forester, a certified professional secretary, a environmental educator, and a water education professional. I mentored at-risk young adults, built homes for Habitat, organized river cleanups and taken kids on mission trips. All my schooling has helped me progress and continue to grow and share with others. I'm not done yet! College I started college right out of high school (eleven days to be exact). This was a mistake. But I was coming from a foster home and they didn't know what to do with you if you graduated from high school and weren't 18. So I went for the summer and fall semester at UW Platteville before I dropped out for several years. I traveled, worked in restaurants and bars before I went back and eased in to the whole academic thing at the Madision Area Technical College. Older, I was more focused than my classmates and then when I became burned out I forced myself to finish at UW Madison so that I could move on to the next stage in life. Funny, when you have to pay for it yourself you are much more determined to get the biggest bang for your buck. I wish there would have been much more discussion and realism as to what you could actually do with your major. I think there would be more employment-centered studies if that was the case. I never used my major for almost 6 years after college. I use it now, but only as a sidebar to my other training. Workplace As the owner of a landscape design, consult, install & maintena...Expand for more