Michael Williamson:
CLASS OF 1969
Fair Park High SchoolClass of 1969
Shreveport, LA
Louisiana State UniversityClass of 1973
Baton rouge, LA
Midway Middle SchoolClass of 1966
Shreveport, LA
Claiborne Fundamental Elementary SchoolClass of 1963
Shreveport, LA
Michael's Story
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Okay, it's been a bit longer than a summer. Still though, it doesn't seem like it's been 40 years. I tried hard not to blink, but I think I did. Rats.
First of all let me warn you, there's no way I can keep this down to a 300-word essay. What I can do though is start with the executive summary for all of my ADD friends. Sorry, there's no large print edition planned. Good news though, there is no test at the end.
Graduated LSU-BR 1973 (Economics), married 1973, a year of graduate school (Economics), some more undergraduate courses, Claims Representative with Social Security 1975-1981 (Ruston & Bossier City), Computer Science degree from LSU-S, programming & other computer work since 1983, two daughters, one son, three grand-daughters, divorced 2007, living in Shreveport. Was that too fast for you? If you want more than the blitz edition, just keep reading.
I went to LSU with no firm idea of what to major in. Early on, I took an economics course and it really clicked with me, so I had my major. I loved it all the way through graduation in 1973. The next decision was between law school and graduate school. I opted for grad school in economics. As much as I had liked economics before, I really disliked it in graduate school. Despite my antipathy, I am glad that I went because I think I would have always regretted not trying it otherwise.
I wasn't the only FPHS '69 graduate at LSU back in the day. People came and went, but I remember (in no particular order) Ozzie Moe, Steve Thweat, Tommy Sullivan, Paul Lea, David Lindsay, Candy Pickering, John McKinnon, Dale Branton, Duncan Stephens, Becky Sanford, and Linda Payne. I used to make the track meets to get some sun and watch John run; nothing like a little vicarious exercise on a Sunday afternoon. I had a (huge) class with Linda (American History, IIRC), a Calculus class with David, and a Geography class with Duncan. Duncan and I went to see Charles Tutt after he showed up in BR for law school. I remember running in to Loye Hutchinson before a football game or two. There were probably others (Paul Hartgrove?) I just can't recall coming across. For those that went to Midway, I'll throw out Bill Conley's name; I had an English class with Bill and am pretty sure he also went to law school at LSU.
After I punted graduate school, it was time to work on a degree in something with a future. When I started at LSU there was no computer science degree curriculum, but there was in 1974, so I jumped in. After a couple of semesters I had a chance to take a government job. I was tired of going to school, so in January of 1975 I went to work for the Social Security Administration. After training in Austin (great place, hated to leave) I began working in Ruston. After three years in Ruston I managed a transfer to the Bossier City office. It was reunion time again as the Supervisor there was none other than Joey (call me Leo) Rossler. Honestly, he was a great person to work for (and with). I didn't really know him at Fair Park, but I can't say enough good things about Leo. The last I heard he was a District Manager with Social Security over in Tyler.
After a couple of years in the Bossier City Social Security office, I started taking Computer Science night classes at LSU-S. After doing that for a few semesters, I realized that going full-time for a year would get me a BS in computer science. The job market was pretty good, but every prospective employer I checked with told me that a computer science degree was mandatory. I finally took the plunge, left the government, and picked up that second degree. Funny thing though, in the years since, no employer has EVER asked to see or verified that degree. So much for manda...Expand for more
tory.
I've worked in the computer field since 1983, mainly as a programmer. Most of my programming was accounting software and self-funded health insurance adjudication and plans. I also taught night classes in computer science and economics as an adjunct faculty member at Bossier Parish Community College for ten years. For the last ten years I've worked with the computer systems at Southland Printing, one of the world's largest printer of parking lot tickets.
Larrie and I got married in the summer of 1973. Her degree from Centenary was in Music Education. While we lived in Baton Rouge, she worked as a "traveling strings teacher," mainly in the Scottlandville part of town. Once we moved to Ruston, she began giving private piano and violin lessons. Early on she became interested in the Suzuki method of music teaching, got some training, and became a Suzuki piano/violin/cello teacher. Much of the time she taught from home, but she also taught for years through the Centenary Suzuki School as well as in other private schools in the Shreveport area. In her spare time, she also played in the Shreveport Symphony.
These days, Larrie is a psychiatrist (or maybe that's a psychiatric violinist, I forget). Back in the 90's, Larrie decided she wanted to go to Medical School. As a musician in college, she didn't take much science. She enrolled at LSU-S to catch up on sciences while still teaching privately as much as ever. She made it into Medical School, discovered psychiatry, and the rest is history. Speaking of history, we've been divorced since 2007. C'est la vie.
Even though none of them graduated from Fair Park, I've got three children that I'm extremely proud of (even the Byrd graduate). In case you're wondering how many I have in the 'not proud of' category, that answer would be zero. My older daughter, Amanda, was born in 1976. She and her family live in Baton Rouge. She is in OB/GYN, so I can't get any freebie medical care from her. Amanda has two daughters, ages about 3 ½ and about 21 months. I can't tell you their real names because of the witness protection deal, but I call them Lauren and Emily. Amanda went to college at LSU (so that's LSU 2, Centenary 1 for those keeping score).
My younger daughter, Katie, was born in 1979. She graduated with a math degree from Centenary (so the score was tied). Katie worked in the actuarial world in Dallas for a few years before deciding that medicine suited her better. She just graduated from Medical School in May (2009). She, her husband, and their 3-month old daughter, Leah, live in Shreveport. Katie started her residency in psychiatry in July.
My son, Andrew, was born in 1988. He is a senior math major at LSU (so the final score is LSU 3, Centenary 2). He would like to go to graduate school and eventually teach in college. If he invents a new number I hope he names it after me.
In my spare time, I enjoy photography, reading, travel, LSU football, and cooking (except for that cleaning up part). Last year I went to California, but I don't have any big vacation plans for 2009. I'm thinking about California again next year, but I'm not positive yet.
So many of you submitted questions, but I'm too short of time right now for individual replies. To satisfy my many fans, here are the answers: Beatles, Mary Ann (in a landslide), dogs, college, carrot cake, Zermatt, Florence, Yosemite, San Francisco, blue, Elvis Costello, Olympus, 42, Machu Picchu, Bob Seger, George, Glock, The Nutcracker Suite, American Pie, renaissance faire, Maggie May, Smithsonian Institution, Packers, Doctor Zhivago, No Country for Old Men, flashlights, Alison Krauss, Sleepless in Seattle, yes, yes, no. I'll let everyone figure out the questions; it's more fun that way.
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