Kim Radmacher: Enjoying the Procrastination!

Sadly, I must admit today was my first visit to the reunion blog. But, it has been wonderful to read what everyone has been up to. It’s been a welcome source of procrastination from revising my dissertation. Thank you for the distraction. Since all of you have shared a bit about your lives over the past 20 years, I felt impelled to do the same. In the words of my best friend, Jimmy, I will try to “précis”. Although his attempts to keep my account of events short and to the point have failed miserably, I will try my best and give you a “newspaper” version of the last 20 years.

I’ve been in school for most of the past 20 years; 14 years to be exact. I find it quite fitting that 20 years after graduating high school I will finally be graduating from college. I will receive my Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from UC Santa Cruz this fall and will be moving back to the Los Angeles area in January to open a new chapter in my life as an Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Development at CSU Dominguez Hills. I am currently single, but look forward to sharing my life with someone when the right person comes along.

The road from Cheviot Hills to Dominguez Hills has been an adventure. New experiences, friends who have come and gone and some who will always remain, shared laughter and tears, found love, lost love, learned lessons, but most importantly shared moments. After graduating from Chaminade, I attended Moorpark College for two years. On my first day of college, I met my friend Megan “from Montana” and before I knew it I was transferring to Montana State University in Bozeman. Exhausted from the “material world” of the 80s, the fresh air, mountains, and slower-paced lifestyle were a welcome retreat. Mountain bike trails right outside my door, skiing class on Friday afternoons, hiking the Grand Tetons, Thursday quarter beers nights at the Cat’s Paw. I worked as a server at Frontier Pies and managed to graduate after 3 years with a Bachelor’s degree in Business-Marketing. The end of my undergraduate career also marked the end of a year long relationship to my college boyfriend, whom at the time I thought I would marry. Thankfully, I did not.

Heartbroken and convinced life would end at 22 before it even began, I returned to California and worked as an Administrative Assistant at Vista Ford for two years before beginning a career with Enterprise Rent-A-Car as an management assistant and eventually a corporate account representative. Aside from gaining excellent training in sales and marketing, my days in Corporate America were rather unremarkable except for the handful of amazing friends I met and still continue to have in my life. Most important among these, my friend, Jimmy. We met, became friends, were in a relationship for three years, and then broke up and both left the company on the same day to pursue our life’s passions; Jimmy, a photographer; myself, a college professor. We dated off and on for the next few years, but, in the end, being close friends was the best option. I am still privileged to have him in my life as one of my closest and dearest friends.

After Enterprise, I attended CSU Northridge for three years and graduated with a Master’s degree in Psychology. I’ve been working on my Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at UC Santa Cruz ever since. I began teaching psychology at CSUN as part of their teaching intern program, a passion that has grown despite the occasional bump in the road. Teaching is still one of my favorite “hobbies” as my friend Julie and I call it. I have been teaching Introduction to Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Adolescent Development at UCSC and Cabrillo Community College for the past three years. I have reluctantly grown to enjoy research and writing as well. My research and teaching focuses broadly on adolescents’ and young adults’ social and emotional development as well as how social class and poverty influences their opportunities and outcomes. Currently, I have been focusing on identity development, or how adolescents and young adults come to understand who they are as a person and whether and how their social identities (e.g., ethnicity or social class) play a role in defining who they are. Although adolescence is typically the age when a more comprehensive sense of who we are begins to develop, reflecting on my own life and reading your blogs reminds me that our “identities” are always growing and changing as we encountered new experiences and people throughout our lives or revisit and rethink the past.

As I start my career as a professor, I’m still a bit uncertain of the whole publish or perish mentality. CSUs tend to be more focused on teaching than research; but time will tell. While I have sacrificed time with family, friends, and myself over the past nine years of graduate school, I have known for some time, that there are more important things in life than my career and am vigorously attempting to not let it gain the upper hand. Although sometimes, I still fail miserably.

In my spare time, I enjoy sharing moments with family and friends. My parents moved from Simi Valley to Sutherlin, Oregon, three years ago. So, I typically spend a week or so with them in Oregon: hiking, river rafting/tubing, wine tasting, going to Beaver football games, or just hanging out doing nothing. My sister, Christin (she graduated in ’85; some of you may remember her from softball or as a retreat leader), lives in Simi Valley, is married, and has 3 wonderful children, Nicole, Brianne, and Jeff. Nicole and Brianne both attend Simi High (I can’t believe they are in high school already) and Jeff just started middle school. I’m excited that I will soon be living much closer to them so that I can spend more time before they are off to college themselves. I also enjoy experimenting with cooking for/with friends. Although not all my experiments turn out as fabulous as I’d like, my friends are usually forgiving. I’ve taken some drawing and painting classes and pick up my camera from time to time and my guitar at least once a week (when I meet with my friend, Bob, for lessons). I am currently working on writing my second song. I typically engage in the local sports wherever I live. In Santa Cruz, that has meant Yoga and sailing. I haven’t embarked upon belly dancing yet, but I may try a few classes before I leave. This past year, one of my students, who is our age, invited me to join her softball team. I have been inspired by playing with women of all ages, who still get out and play just for the love of the game. It also doesn’t hurt that we’ve taken 1st place in the last two seasons (spring and summer). So, that’s the short version of my life since Chaminade.

I look forward to catching up with all of you at the reunion and meeting your families at the picnic on Sunday. Ciao!