…teaching her how to survive Pre-Med.
Janet Freedman began her academic career by attending a very competitive high school in New York City. She arrived in Green Bay when she was just 16. Her experience at UWGB calmed her, she said.
“Green Bay was nurturing, and UWGB was half the size of my high school: classes were small and professors’ offices were always open. Independent study was encouraged, design your own classes, major, et cetera. It was the days of Eco U,” Janet says.
After thoroughly enjoying the teaching and guidance of UWGB’s Thea Sager, Ron Starkey, and Charles Ihrke, Janet wanted to attend medical school and transferred to a University of California campus.
“Organic Chemistry was three hundred students in a lecture, the labs were locked except during your assigned lab time to prevent sabotage of the lab, and assigned readings were stolen out of the library: this was a common culture of premedical students,” Janet jokes. But halfway into her very first semester there, she realized it wasn’t for her and she dropped out.
“I moved back to Green Bay and enrolled again at UWGB,” Janet explains. “There were about four pre-med students and we studied together. Labs were open and available all day for us to do our work. Professors taught the labs. I would never have survived pre-med anywhere else.”
After her UWGB graduation, Janet found another niche at UW-Madison and is now a successful professional in the medical field, but UWGB seems to follow her wherever she goes.
“When I was in school in Madison, I would get together with friends from UWGB, and very quickly, our conversation would gravitate to UWGB memories. I still remember all of my Madison friends asking, ‘What is it with you UWGB people? It’s all you talk about!’”
Name: Janet Freedman
Grad Year: 1975
Major: Human Biology
Minor: Social Change and Development
Photo submitted by: Janet Freedman
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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.