My Mom has always been my inspiration. She's never really thought of herself as a "pioneer", but she is. After she graduated at the top of her class from high school in Chicago at 17, she and her parents moved to Corvallis so she could go to pharmacy school at OSU. In those days very few women chose pharmacy as a career and so she was one of nine women in her class. She was not only a pharmacist, but helped my Dad run their North Portland pharmacy for 18 years, all while balancing being a mom. She was always very good in math as well, and after discovering a mistake on her taxes and pointing it out to her CPA, he asked her to come and work for him as a tax preparer. So, Mom took all the tests and for "fun" worked for him too. When I was a little kid and she'd come to school with cupcakes or whatever, wearing her pharmacy uniform, I was so proud of her; "my mom's a pharmacist"! I've always been proud of my Mom and her accomplishments, but even more, I'm proud of the person she is loving, kind, caring, thoughtful and positive. I credit my positivity to her; she'd always help me to see how "out of everything bad comes something good". My Mom has always had my back, always believed in me and above all, always loved me and let me know. So happy International Women's Day to you Mom...you're my treasure!
Janine Wolf