Beth Gleason ’75

My Simmons education was a game changer. Coming down to a good college in Boston opened up my world because it exposed me to new ways of thinking and new ways of being. My undergraduate education gave me the freedom to realize I could make my own (different) choices. And in many ways graduating from Simmons is when my authentic life started.

Here is why Simmons radically changed my life. I am from Maine and the State of Maine is one big small town. In general women are not encouraged to “reach for the stars” academically, but to settle for a local Junior college or a state school. A trip to Boston is a big deal, justifiable if it’s for a Red Sox game or a church mission trip. So attending Simmons within the yeasty context of Boston’s higher education community guaranteed that my horizons would expand. It encouraged this Maine girl to dream big(ger) dreams.

Having financed much of my college and graduate education I know how much a boost would have meant back in my day, which is why I have made a bequest designated to the Dirigo Endowed Scholarship Fund (“Dirigo” is Latin, from the state of Maine motto, meaning “I lead.”). A scholarship directed specifically for a Simmons student from Maine provides one less hurdle toward her graduation day. And with a Simmons degree, the adventure that is the rest of her life will begin, whether she chooses to return to Maine or not.

May the Dirigo Endowed Scholarship Fund do the same for generations of gifted and ambitious Maine women who make the decision to attend Simmons, because a Simmons education is a valuable ticket to explore the wider world and to do so with joy.