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Karen Bell

Well, I was a student in the 1960s, and it was a time when women were really kind of coming into their own. But I had a dad who was a wonderful guy and a professional but he hadnÕt gone to college and he kind of couldnÕt imagine why I would go to college.

And, but then, all of a sudden, all of my friends were thinking about college and looking at schools, and I thought, I want to do that. With my momÕs encouragement I did apply to schools and you know, went up, drove four hours, and went to the interview by myself, and, you know, at that point I thought, If they just meet me, IÕll get in. Because my grades were OK: I was a good student, but I wasnÕt a spectacular student. And so I was happy that there was a personal part of the interview.

I always was a dancer, since I was five years old, I was a performer, and always told IÕve got personality. And I just though, well, if they see that I have a dynamic personality and I have drive and passion they would understand that I would do well in college and so, thatÕsÑI think maybe my background as a performer gave me confidence that I could do it.

I thought, actually, that I would be a teacher. I went into a classroom to observe fourth-graders. The teacher wasnÕt there that day. And so I was in charge and I knew that day that I wasnÕt going to be an elementary school teacher, but I was happy to be at college.

So the five years in between undergrad and grad school I danced with a company, I toured, I had odd job, I was, yes, a waitress, and started to teach dance at that time. And I thought, you know, if I wanted to teach at a university full-time, I needed to go back to graduate school.

I love my job. IÕm dean of a college. I get to interact with students and faculty and other people that care about higher education. And I know that obviously, I would not be in this job if I hadnÕt traveled the college path.

I remember my graduation--lots of people there, and my family there, and my parents really proud. And also, the same thing with graduate school. They couldnÕt be more proud of the path that I traveled and where I am now.