Carol Ann Baker '83
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- Carol Ann BakerCarol: You have great prompts, yeah.
- Kathryn Vincent & Carol Ann BakerKathryn: Yeah?Carol: Yeah. Okay.Kathryn: If you wanna say your name, your--Carol: I sure will.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: I'm Carol Baker. Can you hear me?Kathryn: Yep! Sounds great.Carol: Okay, good. Okay. So, do I start when I want to?Kathryn: Yup, if you wanna, can you do the 'My name is...' --Carol: Yeah, sure. You bet.Kathryn: That first part right there.Carol: Okay.Kathryn: Just class year and...Carol: Okay.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: My name is Carol Ann Baker. I currently live in Berea, Ohio, and I am a member of the Grinnell College Class of 1983.Kathryn: Great.Carol: So the reason I came to Grinnell College- there was a number of criteria: One, there was no Greek Houses here. I really liked that. Two, it was a small campus. Coming from Berkeley, California, which has an enormous university, that was a big selling point, that it was small. Three, it was non-ivy league and it had very high academic standards. I liked that combination, and it was in a rural setting and I had always grown up in an urban setting. Yeah, it was fantastic to have that change. My family was- we were nature lovers, so it was a good step in the right direction.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: My first memory of the campus, I came- although I applied early decision, I still came to visit before I started school here, and people were very friendly, so I liked it right off. I loved all the trees; I loved the feel of the buildings- that they were formal but not forbidding. So that really worked for me.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: I wanna move- sort of flow easily into number two, about what professor, student or staff member--Kathryn: Feel free to... jump all over.Carol: Okay.Kathryn: If the spirit moves you, tell it.Carol: Cool, cool.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: The first thing that was really significant was there was a recruiter that came to Berkeley High School, and of course, he was recruiting for Grinnell College and he was very friendly and he was articulate and that really impressed me. So that was the first, like, “Hmmm… Take more look at this.” So then, once I got here and started taking classes, Ilse Leitinger, was.... She was a professor of Sociology. She was a very strong woman and she had come from Germany as a youngster. And... she- So, I took a number of classes with her because she just had this... she seemed very... effective and curious, and a lifelong learner. She was athletic. So, there was many components to her personality that I- and actually, I did, one summer, stay at her house, and I did some house renovation for her. So that was a neat double experience that she and I shared. And I met her daughter and her ex-husband and it was very nice.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: My best memories of my time at Grinnell College? Well, I ran cross-country, so that was a very good experience. I had been athletic in high school. I rowed in crew, in high school. I was glad there was no crew team here because crew was so intense! It’s actually quite difficult to study and do crew. So, cross-country running was- although it was a significant athletic endeavor, it was as over- just completely overwhelming the way crew can be. And... so that was good, running cross-country.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: Then I also did a semester in Colombia, South America, and that was very memorable. I will say that I wasn’t as much of a grind in college as I was in high school. I did a lot of partying here. I also partied when I went down to Colombia. That kept me from really being very... It kept me from knowing really, career-wise, what my game plan was when I was leaving Grinnell, but--Kathryn: We all feel that way.Carol: I had a lot of good times, I will say that! I did a lot of dancing here. That was wonderful.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: You mention about a dorm room, and what was significant for me about my dorm room is that I had never had my own room before! And, even though as a freshman I shared a room with three other freshmen, young ladies, I knew that at some point--Kathryn: You were with h--Carol: Yes, it was.Kathryn: Four?Carol: Four. There were four of us in... I think it was a large room, with a.... We had bunk beds and I think there was a single bed, and then there was a very small offshoot room. So yeah, we were packed in.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: But, I knew that at some point I would have my own room, and that was-- I was really looking forward to that and I was very excited about that possibility, 'cause I'd alwa-- Up 'till hten I had shared a bed, and then after that I had always, you know, shared a room with my sister. So that was very exciting.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: What kind of clothes did I wear? That’s an interesting question. I was cer-- I've never been a real frou-frou girl, so even back then I know I wore khaki pants, because they had pockets on the side and I’m a real pocket lover. And, because I was athletic, I’m sure I was always in some sort of... you know, atheletic sort of--Kathryn: Shoes and shirt?Carol: Oh, yeah, totally, you know, ready to lift anything kind of clothing.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: Although, I didn’t go to prom in high school and for whatever reason they decided to have a prom here at Grinnell, so it gave me a chance to go to prom and I had a really nice prom dress to go in-- I don’t know where I got it, and I think I still have it to this day. And it was so nice to actually attend a prom, even though it was sort of, you know, late in the day, it was a really fun experience. So that was neat!
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: What book influenced me the most? I read a book... I don’t remember the class, but the book was about resources that we have gone in and extracted out of South America and how--Kathryn: This a David Campbell class? Did you ever take a class with Campbell?Carol: I don’t know who taught it. All I remember is that--Kathryn: It's sort of his specialty...Carol: It was such an eye opener for me, because I was like, “Oh, my God! That’s why we are so wealthy in this country!” Because we go- even if we haven’t militarily colonized, we have economically colonized these other countries and that has- We’ve extracted their wealth and brought it here and it is really- and I know we're a big, powerful country just ‘cause we’re so large, but we have also really utilized other countries’ resources that have contributed to our wealth, and that wasn't-
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: And- I mean, following up with that, actually visiting the country was very eye-opening also. I mean, Berkeley being a college town, you know, there are some scruffier sides of town, but nothing compared to what I saw when I was in Bogota, so that was really a big deal for me.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: My images of the- Oh, of the town of Grinnell! Well, I did spend a couple of summers here, so I really had that sense of, you know, there were the townies, and there was the College campus, so I had that feeling and I.... I sort of thought, “Wow, do I want to stay at Grinnell," you know, "after I graduate?" And I thought, "You know what, because I am from Berkeley, I am never gonna fit in here. I am just never going to make the grade,” and it was- at that time, it was very white and being from Berkeley, which is a very multi-cultural community-- You know, I had met Indians, and.. you know, I dated African Americans and I mean, I just met all kind of folks in Berkeley, and I didn’t think it would be a good fit for me. And now I know it has really changed. I know there's Hmong; there's Vietnamese, you know. It has definitely- the diversity has really shifted here. So that’s kind of cool.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: How has Grinnell changed? It’s changed enormously. It’s super built up. When I first came to Grinnell, you could lay on the lawn on North campus and watch the moon rise right off the horizon. I’ll never forget that. That really impressed me, because it was a Harvest Moon, so it was like this huge gold coin. Big, big moon, and that was... I was like, “Wow!” And there are so many cool things about having that those four years here, because being away from an urban setting, the whole pace of everything, for me, really... there was a lot more time to do things like watch the moon rise, or.. you know, dance ‘til one or, you know, just things that.. a slower pace of life allows time for. And that is some of the gifts that I really got from being here.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: What is no longer available on campus? Gosh! Maybe it feels a little built up to me. It feels like that wide open space is a little missing. But, you know, I’m renting a bike and the fields are very accessible by bike. So, it’s not too far you’ve got to go to get that wide open feel.Kathryn: Bike to any of the soccer fields yet?Carol: haven't.Kathryn: Okay. That's okay.Carol: I'll have to--Kathryn: They're just north of campus.Carol: Okay. I'l definitely have to get a map so I can track that down.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: My favorite academic experience or class at Grinnell… Oh, man! I took so many different things. Like, I studied art history, which just totally blew my world open. And I’ve actually studied it since then, just because I adore art. Yeah! And, not that I’ve used it professionally or even, you know, as a hobby, it's just something... Right now I’m in an international medical career and one of the things I enjoy doing is going to museums and seeing what kind of art they have there. So, I took an art class here that was, personally, very meaningful for me.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: Let’s see, what else did I take?Kathryn: Were you a Biology major?Carol: You know, it’s so funny that you ask that, because in my thirties, and even now, I have continued to study native plants, but I was- this is not going to put a good light on me, and I accept that- I was so focused on partying that I really avoided any classes that would... that I thought I might not pass in.Kathryn: Mhm.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: So, I had to come to all that fantastic biology later in my life when I was- I had- First of all, I wasn’t drinking; I got sober when I was 29, and second of all, when I had the personal development to, you know, tackle more meaty material.Kathryn: Uh-huh.Carol: And I love biology now; I’m a big, big bio fan.Kathryn: I'm a Bio major.Carol: Amen! That is awesome! Biology is just--Kathryn: So cool.Carol: It's so cool. I mean, I started my first- my first sort of wedge into the biological world was plants, and then I moved to birds and now I'm just- It’s almost like a flower; it just keeps opening up, more and more, as far as what I’m interested in, so..
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: Even microbes- I’m fascinated by microbes!Kathryn: That's my favorite class of Biology.Carol: Oh, my gosh!Kathryn: So fascinating.Carol: You know, I’ve been studying, like, the vectors of disease, global disease--Kathryn: Mhm.Carol: Amazing! So, that stuff is like, so righteous. So let's see. Now, where was I?Kathryn: Sorry.Carol: No, no, no! This is so cool; I’m thrilled that you like biology!Kathryn: Yes.Carol: That is fantastic!
- Kathryn Vincent & Carol Ann BakerKathryn: Probably favorite academic experience?Carol: Yeah! Favorite academic experience. Well, let’s see… I really enjoyed the rugby team. No, that’s not an academic experience. I... Let’s see... I talked about the art history. See, one of the things that was really great was, I had studied Spanish for four years in high school, so when I got here, I was very confident in my ability to study the Spanish language. So, the first class I took, I don’t remember the lady’s name, but she just started speaking Spanish right off and a lot of people were like, “Oh, my gosh! I’m way over my head.” And I was comfortable.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: And so I formed a study group, and I really helped a lot of people see, hey, this was a very easy language to learn. "You," you know, "You can learn this," and that was a very positive experience for me. And I think that was the beginning of my... flowing down the road to getting a Bachelor’s in Spanish, was that early experience of like, I already have some mastery to this, and as a matter of fact, I even attempted tutoring one Chemistry major, and he couldn’t make some of the sounds like the 'j', the jota, the 'j' sound. You know, he was great in Chemistry, but he could not get that linguistic, you know, experience. So that was a very positive experience.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: My favorite place on campus, really- I love to eat. I came out of a household, where, you know, there was four kids, we didn’t have a ton of money, so to come to somewhere where I could get second helpings of orange juice, and I could- You know, I mean, I was like, very enamored of the cafeteria when I got here. Thank God, I was running cross-country. I definitely hit the freshman fifteen, and, you know, then I worked it off. But, yes, it took me a while to really settle down around how much fun it was to have unlimited food..
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: Other than that I think it was so fantastic for me to be around so many people my age. When I was in high school, I studied very hard. I worked a lot. I was super focused with the rowing crew. So, I really socially, and plus my home situation, really didn’t make room for a healthy socializing environment, so I was very focused in high school. So when I got here, I was ready to interact with people my age and so- even just in the dorm rooms, you know, or in the dorm halls, having that time and that wonderful chance to get to know people my age- that was really, really special for me. So that would be, you know, the dormitories.
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: What would I have done differently? Oh, my Lord, I would have done so many things differently! First of all, I would have thought about, you know, life after Grinnell. Absolutely, I would have made a commitment to sobriety, you know, as soon as I realized alcoholism was a disease, which it took me a while to get that.Kathryn: College is a hard place to... to see that.Carol: Yes, it is. Although, I do remember I went to one AA meeting. It was in a church right across the street. I went to it, I saw all these old fogies, they were smoking and were drinking coffee, and I left and I never went back, and it was just like a curtain drew over that experience. But, you know, at 29 I did finally get sober. That was good.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: How would I compare the students of today with my classmates? The students of today are so with it. They are dialed in. I mean, they are- seriously got it goin’ on and that’s what I would say, is I feel like they are armed. They realize the challenges that are going to meet them when they leave here, and I feel like they are really willing to put their back into seeing what do they need to do so they can have a job when they get out of here. And that really impresses me. And they are so talented; they just know how to do many things - so many things. They’ve been to lots of cool places and they’re just a great bunch of people.
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: Let’s see, describe student and campus life as I experienced it. Well, as I already mentioned it, I had a lot of fun and.... Oh! This is one fantastic thing about what I experienced at Grinnell. So, coming from Berkeley, which is kind of an international community and then I came here and I was like, “Cool, there's all these international student here!” and I was so thrilled about that because, in a way even though we were in the middle of the corn fields, it felt like that little bit of Berkeley that came with me. Which is, you know, there were people from Africa and Iran and people from Jamaica, and I loved that! And one of the reasons I have started to financially contribute to Grinnell, is because I want to make sure that that diversity, that variety is maintained. So, that was really important for me and I loved it. I
- Carol Ann BakerCarol: f I were writing a history of Grinnell College, what would I include from my years here? Wow! What would I include? You know, as much as I talked to my classmates, I still feel like, 'Who were they? Where did they come from? What did they want?' I mean, I really feel clueless about... because of my own, you know, inability to focus on more serious topics, I feel very curious now about who were those folks sitting next to me in classes, and what were they hoping for the rest of their life? So that's what I would write, is a closer look at what my classmates hoped for themself, so..
- Kathryn Vincent & Carol Ann BakerKathryn: So what did you hope for when you were at Grinnell?Carol: Well, I achieved what I really wanted. Which was, I escaped from my household, that was fantastic.Kathryn: Mhm.Carol: I didn’t flunk out of college. That was super, super fantastic, and... I had a re- I don’t want to say just a great time. What I had was, I met people from all over the world and that, because I travel internationally now, it completely suits me. It’s very life-affirming for me and it’s a type of activity that I find very life-affirming- to meet people from different walks of life, and I really felt like I had that here at Grinnell.Kathryn: And you get to do that now?Carol: And I get to do that now with work! So look at that? Life is good!
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: So.. So these are great questions. I don't know if you made them or not, but--Kathryn: I did not. I cannot take credit for them.Carol: But... I'm super thrilled I didn't have to stand in a line to do this, and I'm.... I'm just really glad to get this opportunity, so thank you very much.Kathryn: You're welcome.Carol: Yeah.Kathryn: Anything else?Carol: Anything else--Kathryn: Before we sign off?
- Carol Ann Baker & Kathryn VincentCarol: You know, the one thing I would say is, Ilse Leitinger, who was a professor of Sociology, she passed in 2003, so I’ll never get a chance to say this to her personally, but I know she had a daughter. Yeah, I know she had a daughter, Christina Leitinger, I think that was her last name, and Ilse meant so much to me. She was just a fantastic example of how to move into womanhood, and what type of person I would like to emulate and if she were here, I would just tell her how much she meant to me, that she was just- It wasn't that I was impressed by her; I saw so much to admire in her. Yeah.Kathryn: Cool.Carol: Yeah.Kathryn: Can I have you say your full name again, and--Carol: Yes, so... Again, I will say that my name is Carol Ann Baker, living in Berea, Ohio, and Class of '83.Kathryn: Great.Carol: Yeah.
Alumni oral history interview with Carol Ann Baker '83. Recorded May 31,
2013.