Mathematics was always a fun subject for me. The main reason I liked it so much was because there was always an answer for a given problem. But I was also interested in art, where there was never one right answer.

In 1969, I graduated from an all-girls' parochial high school in Rochester, New York, with a double major in math and art. When I entered college I had a very difficult time deciding between the two subjects. I enjoyed both very much, but the deciding factor was the opportunities for employment—I felt I could make a better living with an educational background in math. Art, in the form of painting and ceramic wheel-throwing, is still a very important part of my life.

I majored in math for two years, then left school to help support my family. With my college math background, I soon found a data processing job as a junior programmer, and continued to attend college in the evenings. I switched my major to computer science at that time, because there were many job opportunities opening in the field and I enjoyed my computer courses and the work I was doing. After ten years of part-time study, I completed the requirements for a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Systems from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

I've been working at Xerox Corporation for about twelve years. For the past year, I've been a training coordinator, developing and teaching technical and business courses for computer professionals at Xerox.