Kelly Joyce, a 1984 MVRHS graduate, was a well-rounded student who liked math and Spanish, and participated in band and sports. Kelly recalled that her teachers at MVRHS prepared students to “look outward” — the world was theirs to explore. Her teachers encouraged this through basketball exchanges with New Hampshire and Belgium, Spanish overseas trips, playing in band, and creative class assignments. Through all of these opportunities, she learned how to become a team player, and that has made all the difference in her life. Kelly attended Brown University, where exploration and curiosity were encouraged. As a freshman, she took courses in math, but realized that anthropology interested her more.
After college, what then? What would she do with that college degree in anthropology? Well, it was the ’80s and the economy was slow, so Kelly moved to San Francisco, where she lived in a cooperative with fellow grads from Brown. She interned at Mother Jones magazine, along with other jobs, to pay her share of the rent. Then she decided to work in India with Habitat for Humanity. She continued to explore and learn from and with the people she met.
Eventually, from her experiences, she began to think about further academic education. She loved learning, and liked the idea of a job where she could continue to investigate new ideas and questions. Anthropology became more sociology. She pursued a Ph.D. degree in sociology at Boston College, where her courses were fully funded by the university. That became a major turning point for her. She was fascinated by the world of sociology and medicine. How were they interconnected?
Kelly today has written numerous articles in social science journals. These articles relate to medicine and science and/or technology, especially the influence of power, or lack thereof, in these areas.
Kelly is now a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She bases her success on her quest to explore, encouraged by those MVRHS teachers, and the skills that she learned from her many summer jobs on Martha’s Vineyard. Whether it be pumping gas, working with people who had more money and status than she had as she directed them in the docking of their boats at Oak Bluffs Harbor, or scooping ice cream at a local ice cream shop, these jobs taught Kelly how to interact with a wide variety of people and manage unusual situations. She strongly feels that interpersonal skills, along with working with a diverse variety of kids every summer, prepared her for future success with all kinds of people in all kinds of contexts. And she still looks outward! Best to you, Kelly!
This series runs twice a month. Marge Harris was a teacher at MVRHS for 27 years. She lives in Oak Bluffs. You can contact her at margeharris@comcast.net.
