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--------------------------------------- Choosing <strong>the</strong> 901 ---------------------------------------<br />
Why do you think it’s important<br />
for alumnae to work and live in<br />
Memphis?<br />
Having grown up in Memphis, we<br />
as St. Mary’s graduates are uniquely<br />
equipped to use our talents to<br />
better our city. We understand<br />
Memphis in a way that outsiders<br />
may not. Any time I see something<br />
positive happening in Memphis, it<br />
feels like a small personal victory,<br />
and affirms for me that I’m in <strong>the</strong><br />
right place.<br />
Susan Cooley ’70,<br />
Donor Grants Officer for <strong>the</strong><br />
Community Foundation<br />
Was returning to Memphis<br />
something you consciously<br />
thought about?<br />
Susan Cooley ’70<br />
When I moved to New York, I did<br />
not think about returning to Memphis.<br />
I wanted to live in NYC for so<br />
long and finally things had come<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r for me to go <strong>the</strong>re, plus<br />
I had a sister <strong>the</strong>re to make <strong>the</strong><br />
transition easy for me (I was 38<br />
and single — still single — when I<br />
moved).<br />
I kept up with SMS friends here in<br />
Memphis, especially Susan Hall<br />
Wilson from my class, and it was<br />
coming to visit her when she was<br />
recuperating from surgery in 1990<br />
that started my thoughts about<br />
returning to Memphis. My sister<br />
had died, my o<strong>the</strong>r sister was<br />
here in Memphis with her children<br />
(nearly grown by <strong>the</strong>n), and I felt<br />
<strong>the</strong> Lord drawing me back to<br />
Memphis while here visiting (and<br />
seeing o<strong>the</strong>r alums).<br />
Why do you think it’s important<br />
for alumnae to work and live in<br />
Memphis?<br />
For support and encouragement at<br />
a younger age, it would be great, as<br />
it is for me now. I imagine nowadays<br />
<strong>the</strong> young women can do that<br />
through social media/Internet/cell<br />
phones — none of which existed<br />
back in 1990!<br />
Dr. Abby Yandell Talbot ’03,<br />
Third-year Ob/Gyn resident<br />
at <strong>the</strong> University of<br />
Tennessee Health Sciences<br />
Center in Memphis<br />
Was returning to Memphis<br />
something you consciously<br />
thought about?<br />
When I interviewed with UT<br />
Memphis, I found myself practically<br />
leading <strong>the</strong> driving tour, pointing<br />
out all <strong>the</strong> places that had shaped<br />
me (including St. Mary’s), and it<br />
was so obvious that this is where I<br />
needed to be.<br />
Are you involved with St. Mary’s?<br />
If so, how?<br />
Does it count if I tell everyone I<br />
meet that <strong>the</strong>y need to send <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
daughter to St. Mary’s? At this<br />
point, I’m more of a sideline<br />
supporter, but once I make it<br />
through residency I’ll be more<br />
involved again.<br />
Dr. Abby Yandell Talbot ’03<br />
Zina Kumok ‘07 is a Denver-based personal<br />
finance writer. She writes about a blog<br />
about paying off her student loans at<br />
debtfreeafterthree.com.<br />
WINTER 2015 | | 9
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