Hibbs Kathy Buckingham 2005b  Where have I gone and what have I done since I left Oak Ridge High School?  Obviously, I have not gone far since I live in West Knoxville in a wonderful house John and I built a year and a half ago.  I did take a slightly circuitous route to get here, but only for a short while.  I am an East Tennessean, though and through!
The answer to the question of what have I done is slightly more interesting.  Currently I am managing a large oncology proctice in Knoxville with 13 doctors and 120 employees.  Every day is different and I can honestly say I am never bored.  I have been in healthcare for 24 years and despite the continuous changes we face, I still find it fun.  
My travels began at UTK where I got a liberal arts degree with majors in Political Science and Spanish.  While at UT, I met my wonderful husband and we married in the summer of 1969, when John completed his training and was commissioned an officer in the Army.  After more training in Virginia, we moved to Monterey, California, where we spent two delightful years and had our first child.  John's next tour was in Viet Nam while I returned to Oak Ridge, teaching Spanish part time at St. Mary's School.
Fortunately, John returned home safely.  He enrolled in law school at UT and has been an attorney in Knoxville since his graduation.  We had two more children, bought our first house and got a dog.  The perfect suburban family!  However,  I did not totally fit the mold of a stay-at-home mom and began working part time teaching and eventually was director of a local Montessori school.  I soon recognized that my students were the same age as our children, sapping my energy for parenting and looked for other employment.  That was when I landed in healthcare, develoeped  programs and services for the elderly.  I had a variety of other jobs including director of planning at a hospital and business operations manager for outpatient services.  In my spare time I got a Masters in Public Health from UT.
Our children all graduated from the University of Notre Dame and soon all will have completed their graduate degrees.  Angie, the mother of our three grandchildren received her law degree from Georgetown, Mark is currently in the MBA program at  UT. and Lisa recently graduated from medical school at UT Memphis.  Needless to say, we are very proud of all of them.
Obviously, I have been blessed throughout my life.  I have always been grateful for the education I received in Oak Ridge and the many wonderful memories I have of growing up there.  I am looking forward to seeing all of you.
Posted By: NS Administrator - 02-20-2016
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