After college(s)—Georgetown, Bryn Mawr, and Princeton, AB from Bryn Mawr—I headed to grad school at Stanford, starry-eyed about the ease of earning a PhD amidst the palm trees. Turned out it was the wrong time to do it, but earned my MA and finished my four-year fellowship enjoying courses in film, marketing, law, and English. After working in Texas for four years in the art world, I was ready to return to grad school, and chose UT-Austin. It was great, and I got my first “real” job at Smith College in Northampton, MA. That’s where I met my husband, Harris Friedberg, a professor of English lit at Wesleyan University. We got married (for my first time, age 37!) in 1992, and since Harris was a widower, I simultaneously became a mother. BTW, check out the Second City channel on YouTube for our son Andrew Friedberg’s videos. He’s funny (and cute enough to be dating gorgeous actresses).

Our life sounds very academic, and indeed, it often is, but it’s balanced by breathing compressed air under water as often as possible. We live part of the year on the island of Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean, where I also work sometimes as a PADI Divemaster. Both of us are serious about coral reef conservation, volunteer with lots of good organizations, and have traveled quite literally around the world, both for Semester at Sea and for diving. Our favorite place: Indonesia, hands-down. We just returned from a year in Egypt, where I was a Fulbright Scholar at the American University in Cairo, teaching full-time, seeing the ancient sites, and not coincidentally, diving the Red Sea and the Maldives. Soon, we return to our jobs at Trinity College, where I co-direct the American Studies graduate program, and Wesleyan University for Harris.

For anyone who knew my parents, my dad died of Alzheimer’s in 2007 and my mom of pancreatic cancer in 2010, neither reaching age 80. Both were examples of grace under mortal pressure. It only makes me more aware of living each day fully.

Looking forward to seeing all of you! Mel