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Tag: personal growth

Why celebrate?

Published April 20, 2026

One Woman’s Lived History from the Second Wave I’m interrupting the distant past for a glimpse of the more immediate past, the 50th Anniversary of Service Women at the Academies, and specifically the USNA Women’s celebration in Annapolis. More than 800 women and men, spanning five decades, gathered to mark this milestone. What unfolded over four days was the result of more than a year of effort, a true labor of commitment and care. There…

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The Tuck, The Slit, The Weird

Published March 23, 2026

Learning to wear a Navy uniform that wasn’t made for us I wore a uniform long before the Navy ever issued me one. From kindergarten through high school, I attended parochial schools where uniforms were simply part of daily life. For girls, that usually meant jumpers or skirts, pleats pressed, hems checked, shirts tucked (or retucked), and a quiet understanding that how you wore the uniform said something about you. So when I arrived at…

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Induction Day

Published February 2, 2026

I walked in knowing exactly where I was going.I just didn’t know what I was doing. Inside Halsey Field House, Induction Day began with an unsettling calm. Everything looked orderly, almost polite. The ferocious part was waiting its turn. Rows of folding tables stretched across the floor, aligned alphabetically by last name. I found A and stepped up to a table. The upperclassman behind it didn’t smile or look at me for long. “Plebe Andrews,”…

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Before the Doors Opened

Published January 12, 2026

Growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, with the outline of the Naval Academy just on the other side of the Severn River, I never gave much thought to attending the Naval Academy. That’s the simplest truth. I roamed freely through buildings and fields, along the water, across spaces that felt familiar and unremarkable. The idea of attending the Academy never entered my mind. There were no women there, because there had never been women there. Since…

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Celebrating 50 years

Published January 5, 2026

Celebrating 50 Years of Women at the U.S. Naval Academy: One Woman’s Story I have long passed my 50th birthday, and Gary and I are almost as distant from reaching that milestone as we are from celebrating a significant wedding anniversary. So, what exactly am I celebrating in 2026? The answer still makes me pause. 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of women attending the United States Service Academies, including my alma mater, the United States…

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A GRAND Week at GRANDcamp

Published July 20, 2025

The dictionary might define “grand” as very good or enjoyable, excellent. But when I was invited to host our two granddaughters for an entire Monday through Friday, I discovered that grand is so much more than a definition; it’s a way of being present in the world. Planning for Excellence I knew from the moment I said yes that I was shooting for something special. This time wouldn’t be just a week of babysitting; this…

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