R. Gwyn CookeGreensboro, NC

I have fond memories of MAHS and many things make me laugh out loud   As those of you in ICT may recall, our senior year we left school at lunch for jobs through the afternoon. This usually involved racing to Ray’s for a quick lunch.  Now my best friend David Culler was smarter than me, way better athlete and some would say better looking. But on one glorious day I outran his Chevy with my ole’ Volvo from the parking lot to South Street - the long version. The memory of him beating his steering wheel for more power as I breezed by will forever be with me.

My two favorite teachers were George Williams and Maude Coble   George taught me skills such as Drafting that helped me in many ways through my early career as an Electrical Contractor and later as Engineering Associate with giant AT&T.  I recall taking one or maybe two semesters of Typing with Ms. Coble.  No doubt this was to avoid or skip a meaningful college prep class such as Spanish.  But learning to type was a good idea.

I’ve heard it said many times life is full of decisions and it starts pretty darn early.  I decided to enroll in the ICT program that supported my foundation in the skill trades industry. When the economy went south in the middle 70s I left Mt Airy for work in Greensboro where I was fortunate to land a job with AT&T. I continued my education at Guilford Tech and NC State. I became an engineering associate specializing in electrical design and installation. Now comes the part where the decision to take typing paid off. Sometime during the early eighties computers showed up on our desks. These monster CRTs and keyboards would take the place of drafting tables. Well, my coworkers gasped at the sight of keyboards!  I said, “piece a cake!”

My decision to work for AT&T also led me to the best decision I ever made. I met my future wife Kay there. We both continued and grew our careers through mergers and finally acquisition by General Dynamics Corp.  I traveled extensively as a Project Manager and she became Director of Human Resources   We both are retired and live in northern Greensboro. She works part time for an interior design firm - I fish a lot!

Oh! I almost forgot. My favorite song was - Johnny Harvey and Jimmy Woltz singing

the ballad of Jed Clampett in the talent show. Priceless!