What has she done?
Although I have never been a politician, I have worked relentlessly as an educator to ensure that we have and keep a free society. Above all, we need to preserve the ideals within our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and its hard won Amendments. My modest working class roots required resourcefulness and hard work to build what has become a satisfying second career and a life of quality. One of my great pleasures is to tend my garden, to nurture my edible landscape that is planted amid the flowers that reappear each growing season.
My family was not privileged in the conventional sense. My widowed mother and two siblings – I was the little one – were immigrants and above all envisioned the opportunities for the future. Our family culture stressed self- respect and self-reliance. We contributed by making each other strong to face the “winds” of the time. I took great pride in helping from the time I was four and picked berries to sell at the city market to earn household money from cleaning for others and caring for children. My first real job was in banking where I learned about money trade and currency fluctuations. As a junior accountant in our international department I was the youngest signing officer in 500 branch banking system. Then came a traditional family with two daughters and the family duties of PTA community events – a busy time to nurture and watch children grow. Family and studies were combined when the youngest child entered kindergarten and I had blocks of free time to be away. Community College was affordable then and so was the four year state-school where I earned honors degrees in history and philosophy. I relished in learning about political philosophy, comparative religions and all aspects of history from American history to a minor in Chinese history.
Lucia's Distinguished Service Award
Life happened and economic necessities required a two family income. I became a successful business woman and immersed myself in local economic development and business issues. I was a regional advocate at the state level for the Washington State Small Business Advisory Council and was asked to accompany a Washington state delegation led by Washington's Secretary of State, Ralph Monro to the Soviet Union in 1987. I represented the delegation as an expert on small business issues and entrepreneurship as the Soviet Union was in the midst of restructuring (perestroika) their economic system.
Life happened again and once my daughters were no longer dependent on the family, I too left the traditional family life to earn a master’s degree in business and management and started my teaching career. As a professor of business and management with the University of Maryland, I traveled to Asia, Europe and the Middle East to teach on over 25 military bases and at the U.S. embassy in Germany.
I taught a wide range of subjects including business, management, leadership and world history to active duty military, their families and in some cases – depending on the SOFA agreement, to local nationals. I taught over 30 different nationalities during that time. Life happened again and I returned to take care of my mother who was terminally ill, but kept teaching for the University of Maryland by becoming one of the pioneers of online teaching in late 1997. Once my family responsibilities ended I moved to the Washington D.C. area to teach for the University of Maryland in the greater Washington D.C. area including Maryland Northern Virginia.
I taught a wide range of subjects including business, management, leadership and world history to active duty military, their families and in some cases – depending on the SOFA agreement, to local nationals. I taught over 30 different nationalities during that time. Life happened again and I returned to take care of my mother who was terminally ill, but kept teaching for the University of Maryland by becoming one of the pioneers of online teaching in late 1997. Once my family responsibilities ended I moved to the Washington D.C. area to teach for the University of Maryland in the greater Washington D.C. area including Maryland Northern Virginia.
