Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

• Yesterday, (was it 1963?) I came to  the University of Wisconsin in Madison as a freshman.
• Yesterday, (was it 1963?) when Jack Kennedy was shot?
• Yesterday, (was it 1964?) I greeted Ellery with "you must be 'Papa'"  (Where did that fraternity nickname come from? I never got a good answer.)
• 36 years, it can't be.  It was only yesterday!!??!!
• Yesterday, (was it 1966?) I became a mother and held Erick, my first-borne son in my arms.
• Yesterday, (was it 1968?) I changed from Med. Tech. student to full-fledged  Medical Technologist in the span of one weekend and a move from Beloit Memorial Hospital to St. Marys Hospital Medical Center.  (I didn't feel any different?)
• Yesterday, (was it 1968) when Bobbie Kennedy  was shot?
• Yesterday, (was it 1968?) I discovered my love for microbiology and teaching at St. Marys? 
• Yesterday, (was it 1970?) Blood Banking bench work broaden my horizons.
• Yesterday, ( was it 1971-1977) was I burdened with supervision first in Body Fluids and Serology and then as Medical Technology Educational Coordinator.
• Yesterday, (was it 1973?) my "pearl of wisdom", Sonja Margaret was born.  
• Yesterday, (was it 1978?) I came to MATC. 
   (23 years, it can't be.  It was only yesterday!!??!!)
•  I am here, loving the challenge of the new days and the new students. 
  (Today, on-line teaching presents new challenges.)
• I see the impact of AIDS on the laboratory. 
  (Today I need to know Cryptosporidium & Pneumocystis; they were so unimportant yesterday)
• I  experience the challenges of the Truax campus and  isolation sometimes we feel. 
  (I miss lunch on State Street and Friday afternoon get-togethers..)
• I realize the concern we have about the growing antibiotic resistance of microorganisms. 
  (Today I wonder if we regressing instead of progressing in health care?)
• I experience challenges standing up for the rights of faculty and students.  
  (Today  my 3 years as Union President is a blessing but sometimes it is a curse.)
• Today, I teach.
• Today, I advise.
• Today, I care.
• Today, I challenge myself and others.
• What is tomorrow?
• Adding more flowers to my garden?
• Painting more pictures for my pleasure?
• Walking more miles and eating less food for my "Real Age"?
• Mowing hay and driving tractors across our fields.
• Loving my husband, children, son and daughter-in-laws and grandchildren?  (Stefan, Kyia, Jarred, and Christian, you are growing up too fast and Maine is too far away.)
• Will I travel across Australia by railroad?
• Will I sail to Alaska?
• Who knows?
• Will I still teach?
• Will I still advise?
• Will I still care?
• Of course, I will.
• I can't change tomorrow what I was yesterday and am today.
• It's three years in the future..........and so many things were just yesterday.

Peggy Jensen
May 10, 2001