Part 4 of Shining Women, Bright Futures

For the fourth Shining Women, Bright Futures Speaker Series, where successful professional and business women have come to talk to the SCORES girls team at the Umana Barnes middle school, the guest visitors included a doctor, an architect, and the superintendent of the Mass State Police! The girls had been begging to meet a police woman from day one, but they never expected to meet Colonel Marian McGovern, who had once been a detective, an undercover agent, and now the first woman to be the “boss” of the state police. Because several of the girls really like to draw, the girls were also really excited to meet an architect.

In addition to talking to the girls about helicopters, forensics, and crime scene investigation, Colonel McGovern stressed the importance of playing sports: “sports is important,” she said, “Its important to be part of a team.”

Dr. Peggy Ueda, a retired internist from Mass General who worked with AIDS patients, had an important message about finding your career later in life: she spent 10 years out of college working in labor relations before she decided to go to medical school, and encouraged the girls to take their time and reach for the stars.

Architect Laura Wernick, sharing her experience of failing the Architect Registration Exam three years in a row before finally passing and becoming an architect on the fourth test, emphasized the importance of pursuing your dreams even if you meet setbacks.  

After the roundtable discussions, the girls were surprised that Ms. Wernick had persevered for so long, that it takes as long as 4 months to design a building, and that Colonel McGovern didn’t even know that the governor was going to appoint her head of the state police.