Hello, all!  Here goes:

I graduated from RRHS in 1991, then spent 6 years getting a BS in microbiology at Washington State University.  By the time I was finished, my advisor said I had enough credits to get tenure.  During college I worked as a field hand at an agricultural research farm, as a telephone survey taker (asking "are you an alcoholic and how often do you beat your wife?"), a guide for the blind (one summer in the UK), and a bartender (you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!).  Bartending certainly contributed the most money to my tuition fund, and I learned the tip value of a short skirt.

After graduation I took a job as microbiologist in a lab researching E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Enterococci, and Campylobacter.  Oddly enough, while with the title microbiologist I expected to work with little, little, little animalcules under the microscope (notice the repetition of the prefix MICRO), the job actually entailed climbing into pens with cattle and picking up, well, processed animal feed is the least offensive term I can think of.  So in the course of my career with the Field Disease Investigation Unit (FDIU) I nearly broke both my legs, squeezed through a feed chute to avoid a charging bull, got slobbered over by any number of calves and heifers, and came home with a slight case of frostbite one February.  About that time I decided to abandon ship.  

During this period I married my long-time boyfriend, Jerry.  My name changed to Caron Pruiett, my taxes went up, my student loan income deduction disappeared (only one per household, you know), and I started getting mail addressed to someone called Mrs. Jerry.  On the bright side, my grandfather stopped rolling over in his grave because I was living in sin, Jerry's parents were great, and we went to Tahiti on our honeymoon.  I highly recommend Tahiti, but I tend to think such a lifelong commitment shouldn't involve such a dismal tax situation and the loss of my first name.  Really, why can't he be Mr. Caron?  (Yes, we're happy and in love. No plans for children in the near future.)

Near the end of my career as a fecal examiner, I began doing freelance medical writing for pharmaceutical companies and physicians.  I joined the American Medical Writers Association, and have enjoyed the work immensely, but most jobs are for people with a Master's or Ph.D.  I decided that in order to get a better job than pooper scooper or paper pusher, I would need more school. Yes, maybe this time I will get tenure!

I started Jan. 2002 in the Veterinary Science Program, with emphasis on microbiology and pathology.  I will be studying the clonal spread of antibiotic resistance in E. coli and Campylobacter.  Unbelievably, I am being paid to go to school this time so I might avoid the bartending gig.  I should have a Master's by 2004.

Just a few words of advice I have for all of you, from my time in the foodborne disease industry: take off your shoes before you enter the house if you have been around farm animals.  Rinse your produce before you eat it, but do not rinse it before you put it in the fridge for a few days.  Do not drink raw milk, only pasteurized.  Cheese made from raw milk is OK.  If you like rare hamburgers, grind the meat yourself just before you cook it and you should be OK.  To be really safe sear the outside before you grind it.  Make sure your refrigerator is set correctly, and refrigerate leftovers promptly.  And remember this:  by the time you can see a spot of mold on your slice of bread, the mold has actually spread throughout the entire LOAF.  Cheers!  Caron