It’s hard to think of an ancestor that might be considered an influencer. From research all of them have been hard working people. Were other people behind that? I don’t know.
Actually,
there were some behind my Grandfather, E B Keesee. It was during the depression, and he was
trying to find work. When standing in the
employment line, he noticed that the people getting jobs were those wearing striped
overalls. So, according to family
stories, he obtained a pair and wore them the next day. And was able to get a job!
Were
there any influencers in my life? Probably. My mom gave me the love of reading. I was reading adult level books by the time I
was in Junior High (7th Grade). To this day, I still read a lot of books. Both my husband and I passed that love on to
our son. We had read to him as an infant
until he could read on his own. He was
just like me – advanced for his age/grade in school. He was doing high school level when he was in
the 6th Grade.
I had a grade school principal that broke the
brick wall on understanding fractions.
When I was in 6th Grade, they took all four classrooms and
reshuffled us according to our math levels.
There were a few of us that were considered advanced, and they created a
fifth class that Mr. Jerry Robinson, our principal, taught. So, he asked us what gives us issues and gave
us tips and tricks. It was because of
that, I majored in Accounting and worked for the State of Washington in the statistical
and financial arena for almost 40 years. Come to think about it, it was Mr. Bill Leth,
a business education teacher in my senior year of high school, that influenced
me to go into accounting as a career by allowing us to work ahead in the
classroom. I was able to do two years in
just one year. Although, I never pursued that until college,
when my advisor found out that accounting came so easy to me. Her and the
head of the department encouraged me to switch from Secretary skills to Business
Administration – Accounting. I think
mainly because I struggled with shorthand and typing (I even struggled with
that in high school!). Although, when I
was in high school, my career goal was to become a registered dietitian. I took all the home ec classes and all the
advanced math and science classes for college admission. I struggled in the science class (mainly
chemistry). Mom had me take the typing
and shorthand classes to have as back-up skills. Well, I was working after school at the local
hospital in the kitchen to get some background experience. My boss knew what my goals were, and she
talked to me one day about the job opportunities – that it was a limited. She herself was working at two different
locations part-time as there just wasn’t the openings in the field. That was when I switched over to the secretarial
skills – not realizing at the time the advantages of the other business skills. Those secretarial skills I learned did come
handy – it was how I got a job with the State.
My first position was Clerk Stenographer (basically a secretary) with
the Industrial Insurance Division at Labor & Industries. From there, I moved on and held positions as
a Statistical Reports Compiler then the Accountant/Financial Analyst series.
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