Inspiring Women Magazine May 2021
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PROFILE<br />
Surviving the<br />
Pandemic by<br />
Learning About<br />
Wellness<br />
Denise Woods, member of FAUSA,<br />
decided that, as she lives alone,<br />
she had to find ways preserve her<br />
mental health during the<br />
pandemic. She chose to take a<br />
series of wellness classes.<br />
I was born in Gary, Indiana and moved to Hobart,<br />
Indiana as a child. I am the second oldest of eight<br />
siblings (four brothers and four sisters) and had<br />
an extremely fun and happy life. We did not have<br />
material things in my childhood, but we had each<br />
other. Some of my siblings are hilarious, and we<br />
entertained each other and laughed all the time.<br />
We still do laugh together whenever we see each<br />
other. We are in our 50s and 60s, and one is in his<br />
70s now, and sharing stories from our past is a<br />
tremendous amount of fun.<br />
I remember that I always wanted to be a teacher<br />
when I grew up. I actually wanted to be a nun<br />
when I was in the 2 nd grade, but most girls in our<br />
Catholic school wanted to be nuns. Only one girl,<br />
Sister Mary Ann, became a nun though!<br />
Leaving home<br />
Denise McDevitt Woods<br />
I went to college at Ball State University at age 17<br />
and graduated four years later. I studied<br />
elementary education and initially became a<br />
kindergarten teacher. I later studied computer<br />
programming at Purdue University and changed<br />
careers. During those years working in software<br />
development, I got an M.B.A. from Indiana<br />
University (a woman in a male-dominated field<br />
needed that credential at that time!).<br />
I then went on to get a Ph.D. from Purdue<br />
University and changed to a career in higher<br />
education where I became a tenured professor<br />
at Purdue. (I used to tell my M.B.A. students that<br />
I had returned to my roots which was<br />
kindergarten teaching!)<br />
Starting a family<br />
I also had two children, a daughter and a son. My<br />
daughter lives near me and has four daughters<br />
and is completing her Master’s degree in social<br />
work. My son lives in Missoula, Montana where he<br />
works for a software company.<br />
Moving to the Pacific Northwest<br />
My older brother, a neighbor and me<br />
Interestingly, I never wanted to live in the Pacific<br />
Northwest. I was happy in Arizona, but after my<br />
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