Girls of ’64
Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong kong. “Settling down” was a relative term
Longland landed a teaching assistant
for longland, though she would have long stretches of working as a dean of students in Washington state and— after a mid-career shift—teaching people to use computers. But she remains, in the words of Whitman, “afoot and lighthearted,” and ready at a moment’s notice to hit the open road. Never married, she counts as one of the highlights of her life a year of traveling with a friend in Central and South America, a time she refers to as “vagabonding.” Her classmate lynn gregory can relate. gregory recon-
position on one of the first voyages of the University of Seven Seas. Now known as “Semester at Sea,” the college study
abroad program seemed to Longland “the most magical idea ever.” The trip took her to Portugal, the Meditteranean,
Israel, Jordan, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
her pilot’s license and became, for many years, a race car driver. Down the road, it was off to South
korea, where she taught English. Heading from there to a vacation in Thailand in late 2004, she arrived just after the devastating tsunami that killed approximately 230,000 people. She volunteered to help at a check- point being run by the organization
nected with her alma mater on an April visit, a Haley’s Comet-like pass through her distant orbits that have taken her across the globe. After graduating with a degree in sociology, the New Hampshire native went to the nation’s capital, working as a Congressional aide and also as a “Redskinette”—a cheerleader for the NFl team. These experiences whet her sense of
adventure, and a few years later she was off to Vietnam with the uSO. There, she says, she lost any sense of squeamish- ness amid the horrors of the war. Still, she insists, there was plenty of excitement, too. “We worked hard,” she recalls. “We fought hard. We partied hard.” Adventures with the uSO continued over many years.
At one point she drove from Florida to Alaska to start a job, just her and her dog in a black convert- ible. Then later, she took a uSO position in Iceland. Around the edges, she got
At one point (Gregory) drove from Florida to Alaska to start a job, just her and her dog in a black convertible. Then later, she
took a USO position in Iceland. Around the edges, she got her pilot’s license and became, for many years, a race car driver.
Doctors Without Borders. For 10 days she helped to identify bodies, a chilling reminder of her experience in Vietnam. Writing about the experience in a global Issues in language Education newsletter in 2005, gregory recalled, “Within 20 minutes, I was suited up in a white gown, a hood, rubber gloves, boots and the all-important mask to join a team to carefully place dry ice on the decomposing bodies in the courtyard of the temple. Seeing hundreds of bodies neatly lined in rows on the ground and smelling the stench of death again after so many years brought back the helpless feeling of the task ahead.” Almost a half-century since
donning their caps and gowns in Springfield, the adventure continues.
This fall, longland traveled to Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia. gregory, meanwhile, lives in Thailand and works as a first responder for an organization called “Samui Rescue.” “We stand by to help people with accidents, mostly
Reunion 2014
motorbikes and cars,” she says, before winking mischievously and adding, “and if you’ve got a snake in your kitchen, we’ll get that for you.”1
June 5-8, on the campus Plan to join the Celebration.
TRIANGLE 1 Vol . 84, No. 3
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