Nancy Austin:
CLASS OF 1972
Mayo High SchoolClass of 1972
Rochester, MN
Stillwater High SchoolClass of 2001
Stillwater, MN
American Boychoir SchoolClass of 1997
Princeton, NJ
Central Junior High SchoolClass of 1969
Rochester, MN
Longfellow Elementary SchoolClass of 1966
Rochester, MN
Nancy's Story
Workplace-
I have several disparate jobs. None have anything at all to do with my college degree! I am a jeweler's assistant: restringing pearls and other necklaces and bracelets, and being the resident computer geek.
I also work as a Home Health Aid. I love doing whatever it takes to make people comfortable in their own homes.
Another profession is as a doula. Don't know what a doula is? My husband describes it as a personal trainer for couples in labor. Although one can request a doula once at the hospital, under ideal circumstances, doulas get to know the couple before the baby is born. We meet with the parents-to-be, learning about their likes and dislikes, helping them to think about the upcoming delivery and what they can do to have their needs met and their wishes heard. Once the couple is in labor we join them in their homes until they feel they are ready to go to the hospital. We then accompany them to the hospital and stay with them throughout the entire labor and delivery. If they intend to breastfeed, we stay on until the baby is feeding properly. We do nothing medical. We provide only physical and emotional support. We are trained in comfort measures. Often the new Dad is the most happy to have had someone there who could remember everything he was supposed to learn in class.
-Favorite Teacher-
The one teacher I would dearly love to see again is Miss Mattson, my elementary school Music Teacher. I loved music from birth and she brought it to me at school - my refuge in an always stressful school experience.
-Elementary School-
A severely ADD kid before there was such a diagnosis, my elementary school experience was le...Expand for more
ss than perfect. My second grade teacher was livid because I aced tests but was never able to finish classwork or homework. She would keep me in when the rest of the class went out for recess. She would start by lecturing me, but eventually would lose control, grab me by the shoulders and shake me until I saw stars. She eventually told my parents to have me evaluated by a psychiatrist. The only thing he found was that I had an attention span of 6 seconds.
My fourth grade teacher gave me nightmares. She was our Health teacher for 5th & 6th grade, too. A few years ago, a friend and I were discussing our elementary school. Her name came up. I told her, "I have feelings about her, but I don't know if they are based on fact."
She said, "Mrs. D** was mean to everybody but she hated your guts! I remember one time she didn't like the way you were standing in line as we waited to go to lunch. She walked beside you and yelled at you all of the way down the hall. She yelled at you while you waited in the hot lunch line, she followed you to the table and yelled at you while you ate. When you stopped eating to cry she would yell at you to keep eating. You were crying and stuffing your face, I thought you were going to puke all over the table!"
I have no memory of that incident, but I believe it, based on my reactions to other incidents.
Something in my demeanor made me an easy target. It seemed as though I had a sign on my back that said, "Kick me".
After high school I spent a year as an exchange student in Emmerich am Rhine in Germany. I enjoyed myself, learned a great deal, but I feel sorry for my host parents. I was not an easy person to live with.
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