Born in a mining town in Pennsylvania, I moved to Kent, Ohio, to attend graduate school in 1967. After receiving a Ph.D. in English, I spent more than forty years as a professor at colleges across the country, including Ohio, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, and Massachusetts. Although the focus of my graduate work was American literature, I quickly grew to love teaching writing, especially Freshman English.

The most rewarding years of my career were the six years I spent at The University of Texas at Brownsville, right on the border with Mexico. I used to walk across the bridge with colleagues to have lunch in Matamoros, Mexico. Most of my students were Mexican-American, and some grew up in homes where there was no English spoken. Students often wrote about their culture and their experiences–including their quinceañeras (celebrations of a young girl’s 15th birthday), their favorite Mexican foods, and their memories of being carried surreptitiously across the Rio Grande River on the shoulders of their parents.

Interestingly, students often thought I was Mexican-American (because of my last name) and often started speaking to me in Spanish. However, I do not speak Spanish, and my surname is actually Portuguese! I did, however, learn quite a bit of Spanish during my years in Texas, not only because it was spoken so widely in the town of Brownsville, but also because the daily newspaper, The Brownsville Herald, included a daily two-page spread in Spanish.

A few years before I retired, my husband and I settled into our farmhouse in Vermont with our animals–then two cats and a dog, now one cat and a new dog. We enjoy the outdoors, so our house in the middle of the woods fits us well. 

I joined AAUW in 2002 at the invitation of Lea Newman. What a delight to meet so many intelligent, personable, and fascinating women, several of whom have become my very best friends! I’ve served in different roles in our branch over the years–including two years as membership chair, a role that gave me an opportunity to meet members and learn more about the organization. I also served on the Program Committee for several years, helping to plan a variety of events, including the Suffrage Centennial series.

When my husband and I decided to spend several months of the winter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, about ten years ago, I took on the role of newsletter co-editor, helping Gudrun Hutchins, who had been serving in that role for many years. Initially, Gudrun and I created the newsletter in Microsoft Word. More recently, Kathy Wagenknecht, our branch President, convinced us to develop the newsletter in WordPress–the platform we are using today. Although Gudrun has recently retired as newsletter co-editor, she continues to contribute–by writing a regular column and by mailing printed versions of the newsletter to members who do not use computers.

If you would like to see changes in the newsletter, please don’t hesitate to write to me or to Carolyn Webb, our new co-editor. Carolyn and I are also hoping that many of you will be willing to write guest columns for the newsletter this year.  If you don’t volunteer, don’t be surprised if we give you a call and “twist” your arm!

–Dawn (email: dawn.rodrigues@gmail.com)