Early Pandemic Thoughts
Last March, a friend asked her fellow writers to contribute to a blog about our experiences during the coronavirus pandemic, in real time. I need to update my thoughts, as much has happened in the past year, but this is where I was then. You can also find plenty of good writing from authors around the country at this site.
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Legacy of Persistence and Creativity
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Pamela Sarina Carrington (Pamela Sarina Carrington-Pratt, 1993) was pregnant with her second child and did not think she could finish college. As Sarina explains, “I told my advisor, Tony Zupancic, that I would not be returning because it was expensive, and I felt like I would be wasting the education since I was planning on being a stay-at-home mom. He smiled and asked me to give him 5 minutes at the end of the day before I went home.” Sarina says she met with Professor Zupancic in his office before she picked up Caroline from Tot Spot. Professor Zupancic said, "Sarina, I know it is hard raising little ones and going to school, but all I can say to you is I would hate to see you give up on getting an education. It will never go to waste because no educated woman ever raised an ignorant child."
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Sarina went home that night and told her husband that she needed to finish school. She recalls, “By the time I graduated, I had 2 little girls. Pamela Rose was the youngest child to ever be in Tot Spot. They went to college with me.” Her newborn slept on the floor in a Shakespeare class. “I went on to have 3 more daughters, and I can honestly say not one of my five daughters is ignorant.” That meeting in Tony Zupancic’s office was “a true turning point” in Sarina Carrington’s life. A few years later, Caroline, her oldest daughter, would have Zupancic as her academic advisor.
This is a story I wrote for the centennial celebration of Notre Dame College. It was published on their webpage in 2023, the year before it closed. Since that website is no longer functional, I am posting it here.
Pamela Sarina Carrington on graduation day in 1993 (left to right) Joseph Marks (Hill's grandfather), Hill Pratt (Caroline's father), Sarina Carrington, Lillian S. Marks (Hill's grandmother)
In addition to having five daughters, Sarina Carrington has taught elementary school, sold pharmaceuticals, and is currently a real estate agent and business owner. She credits NDC with giving her the skills and confidence to succeed: “I think I am the person I am today, in no small part, due to my years at Notre Dame. The education was invaluable and not to be dismissed, but more importantly, it was the dedication and involvement of the educators and staff at the school that made the difference.”
One of those five daughters, Caroline Bailey (Caroline Carrington-Pratt 2013), is now a mother of two (Eleanor and Wolf Bailey) and is working as an account director at Koddi, a company based in Fort Worth, Texas, that provides an award-winning ad technology platform. In 2013, Caroline received the Sr. Mary Agnes Bosche award, given to a student who embodies the qualities of Sr. Mary Agnes Bosche, SND: honesty and trustworthiness, a commitment to excellence, and selfless service to Notre Dame and the larger community. Caroline referenced her mother’s story in her acceptance speech at graduation, illustrating how an NDC education can affect multiple generations.
In addition to receiving the Sr. Mary Agnes Bosche award, Caroline was involved in choir, cheerleading, and marching band, as well as co-chief editor of the student newspaper with her now husband, Josh Bailey. Caroline credits the atmosphere of Notre Dame as inspiration for her involvement in campus activities: “Notre Dame was fantastic because it was small enough that you could be involved in just about anything you were interested in. I highly doubt I could’ve done that at another school.”
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Josh and Caroline met in my poetry class. I can’t take credit for setting them up, but now that I look back on it, I might have seen it coming. When I first met Caroline, she impressed me as delightfully curious and unpredictable; I never knew what she was going to say or write, but I always knew it would be interesting.
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In class, Josh Bailey (2012) was quietly irreverent but always engaged. I recall a poem featuring Schrödinger’s cat. Josh is an example of what former college president Andrew Roth calls our mission to “nurture nascent talent.” Like Caroline, Josh made the dean’s list and won academic honors, including the Marguerita C. Banks Award for Excellence in Communication. Before coming to NDC, these accomplishments might not have seemed likely. In his own words, “The truth is that my high school transcripts were not excellent.”
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Now, Josh is the Digital Marketing Lead for one of the largest global distributors of electronic components, TTI. He has also started a small consulting business providing digital marketing services and design since 2014. Josh credits Notre Dame College’s commitment to liberal arts for his creative approach to his life and his career. Both Josh and Caroline work flexible, partly remote jobs that allow them to take care of their two kids, Eleanor and Wolf.
When asked if NDC is forward-thinking, Josh replied, “College is a time for testing limits and forming identity, and that process is messy. I am extremely grateful to the faculty of NDC for their aptitude to work with their students in developing their individual directions, a pattern I saw not only with myself but with the students in many of my classes. If forward thinking is measured by the nurturing of creative diversity, NDC sets the example.”
A forward-thinking college is what the next generation needs to succeed. According to Pamela Sarina Carrington, her youngest daughter, Willow, would like to attend Notre Dame College as well: “I hope she will. She has 5 years to prepare, and I know I will be leaving her in great hands if she ends up in South Euclid, Ohio.”
Sarina and her 5 daughters on Caroline's graduation day, 2013. Rose, Maggie, Caroline, Willow, Sarina, Lily.
Both Caroline and her mother, Sarina, mentioned how lifelong friendships were formed at NDC. In addition to meeting Josh, Caroline notes that her college roommate, Nichole Vencl (2015), who now works at the Cleveland Clinic, is still one of her best friends. Similarly, Sarina recounts one of her fondest memories of NDC was meeting one of her closest friends, Anna Drapela (1992), now Anna Duhamel, in the bathroom of the Keller Center on her first day. The Carrington-Pratt-Bailey family journey is a satisfying story for this professor to tell. Their story shows that not only does NDC function as a family, but it also creates families and lasting friendships. My students might not remember what I taught them about blank verse or heroic couplets, but their college experience gives them lifelong habits of learning, creativity, and strength. Caroline expresses it best: “We're grateful for the life NDC has helped us find with each other.”
Caroline, Josh, Eleanor, and Wolf Bailey.
Take Me As I Am
Anyone who has seen me in the last 20 years knows that I did not take my own advice about hair dye, but I still stand behind the theme of self-acceptance in this 2005 essay that appeared in The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine.
Some Thoughts on Mystical Experiences
I have changed my mind many times on the topic of belief. This essay was written when I was a Quaker, though my agnosticism nagged me then, too.
