Following up on my last columns, I will continue to share what we had first thought we wanted as a career. As a freshman, Melinda Lopez headed to Dartmouth to study with John Rassias to become a translator and linguist, but learned that Russian was really hard. She says that her career path was a long curve, not straight, but not too crooked. She is now a playwright, professor, and actor. Pam Prosser Friedman followed a long and winding path. She writes, “I started a Ph.D. program in neuroscience at Harvard, but they didn’t let me teach, so I went to veterinary school, intending to be an equine vet. But I hurt my back, so I became a teacher and a mom. Now I have four wonderful kids (the oldest is a ’16) and have had my own successful tutoring business for 15 years. I wound my way down the circuitous path to the two jobs I was meant to have! All along the path, my husband, Tom ’85, and I have remained devoted to Dartmouth.” Paul Asel writes, “The path of least resistance—an optimal opportunity—is rarely a straight line. As in sailing, there are tacks and jibes along the way. I have had the privilege to live and work in six countries and travel to 100-plus more. Dartmouth changed me for the better. I never would have imagined this path in high school or in college, but am grateful for the Dartmouth experience in helping shape a path of lifelong learning and adventure.” Lee Merkle-Raymond shares, “I thought I wanted to be an engineer, but that was tougher than I expected, so I ended up financing tech companies. I’ve enjoyed being on the edge of engineering, talking with company founders and chief financial officers, evaluating technologies and finding ways to stay current with engineering while solving the financial puzzles.” She is the senior managing director and credit officer at Hercules Capital. Pam Taylor shared, “I wanted to be a writer, and I am! In my long and rather erratic career I have done everything from writing for local newspapers to freelancing for magazines and national papers to fiction and poetry, social media and fundraising for nonprofits and commentary. My current gig is with Patheos: www.patheos.com/blogs/for theloveofgod.” Jonathon Skurnik writes, “I wanted to be a filmmaker, and ended up as a filmmaker. Yay! I started out as an art guard in Venice, Italy; then an English as a second language teacher in Verona, Italy; then a temp in N.Y.C.; then an outdoor education teacher and curriculum writer in Brooklyn; then a computer consultant in N.Y.C.; then a literary magazine writer and editor in Brooklyn; then a documentary camera person; and, finally, a documentary filmmaker, educator and activist, which I’ve been doing for 22 years. I’m also a visual artist, showing my sculptures, paintings, and multimedia installations in galleries. Now I’m moving toward becoming a narrative film and TV writer and director and showing my work in galleries more consistently.” It is finished in beauty.

—Mae Drake Hueston, 624 Poppy Ave., Corona Del Mar, CA 92625; mdhueston@me.com