For All the Right ReasonsSidetracked Sisters

I am supposed to write about decisions in my past that I would change. To be honest I feel that I have in reality made mostly the right decisions for myself.

The first decision that worked for me was after having been an executive secretary to the Superintendent of Schools during my senior year and then continuing on after graduation, I was offered the position of legal secretary. So just a couple of months after having graduated from high school I changed my field and became a legal secretary in August1962.

I found it interesting and really challenging. I can truthfully say I loved the field I chose. Then many years later I actually went to school to continue my education to get my Paralegal degree. Since I had been a legal secretary for many, many years I wanted that little piece of paper called a diploma to verify in my mind that I was, in fact, already a paralegal. This was accomplished and it felt good.

I originally thought that I would go to business school as that was where my interest lay. The teacher I had suggested that I skip that idea as my skills were up to the level that I would be accomplishing by going on to business school. I sometimes wonder if I should have gone on to school just for the experience of being on my own, but in actuality, I feel I made the right decision.

I was in a law office which allowed me to learn a lot and advance in my skills. One of the reasons that I chose to change jobs from an administrative secretary at the high school was to enable me to use all of my training that I worked so hard to accomplish, one being shorthand. I was able to use this constantly in my field as a legal secretary.

There is nothing boring about working in a law office that handles all types of legal issues. I learned how to handle family finances, real estate matters, getting ready for retirement, estate planning, family law, income taxes, you name it. Never a day went by without new challenges. This was a very good experience for me in my personal and work life.

After many years of working without any benefits this changed with new ownership and became available to me. This was another perk to continue as a legal secretary/paralegal in the legal field at the office I worked in for fifty-six years. Our office actually had three different locations while I worked there. This also made it interesting and fun.

It seems impossible to work in one place for such a long period of time, but there were so many changes in my life during that time such as marriage, children, changing office locations, deaths in the family, birth and adoption of grandchildren. There was also the changing of technology, the law, and procedures, that always kept me on my toes.

Looking back I can truthfully say that I would do it again. This decision helped me become a more educated and rounded person in both my work life as well as personal life.