need to study for SATs.
Over half of the women mentioned the impact a supportive partner had on their ability to balance a meaningful career and an enjoyable family life. Joanna Weinstein Partridge ’91, M.D., for example, explained that she might not have been able to complete her residency and pursue a career in surgery had her husband not become a stay-at-home dad for four years. “I don’t think my career would have been possible if he hadn’t been so supportive,” she said. Additionally, a number of women shared that it is possible to “have it all,” but not all at the same time. “It’s just too much to do at once,” said Lisa Burnett Garnett ’98. Yet, the third and most repeated point among the interviewees resonated particularly: a woman who enjoys what she does is more likely to configure a life where she can “have it all.” As Meghan Hall Donaldson ’90 commented, “If you do what you love, you’re going to be happy no matter what.”
The Critical Importance of Enjoying What You are Doing Of the fifteen working mothers with whom I spoke, fourteen were passionate about their careers. Jennifer Rose Savino ’88, now the director of external relations at Phillips Andover Academy and who was serving as the director of alumni engagement when we spoke, explained that after having two boys, she stayed in the workforce because, “I had a job I loved and decided to try doing both.” In finding a job where she helped keep graduates engaged with the school and their classmates, she pursued her passion of forging and fostering connections. Another mother, Corrente Schankler ’98, left the corporate world to follow her passion for creativity through floral design by opening a flower shop in Manhattan. “Although my work can be exhausting, it is key to my happiness,” Schankler said, adding that in trying to balance a career and family, “It is important to feel fulfilled. I need the creative outlet that comes with my work and it makes me a better parent.” Rebekka Levy ’01, a financial adviser at Deutsche Bank and
mother of a young child, similarly described time spent at work as a privilege because, “I’m doing things that make me feel like a whole person, and therefore I can be more present with my son.” Each of these women loves her family dearly, but pursuing a career allows each to engage in a job she loves, as well. To them, the benefits outweigh the many difficulties. In fact, Celeste Mellet Brown ’94, a global treasurer with Morgan Stanley Co., and a Lawrenceville trustee, as well as the mother of three boys, agrees. “I have a lot to do, but I don’t spend too much time worrying about it!” she said. “I am 100 percent focused on my kids and family when I’m at home and 100 percent focused on my job when I am at work. In fact, since I had children, I have been more efficient and better at my job, because my life has better balance.” Raising children is extremely difficult, particularly while working. The women most likely to maintain their careers, even during the most exhausting and challenging phases of child rearing, are those fulfilled by what they do for a living. As Manoush Zomorodi ’91 explained, “In order to be away from my kids I want to do something that really counts, that has true meaning to me, because otherwise it’s not really worth it.”
Many Nonworking Mothers Feel They, Too, ‘Have it All’ Working mothers are not the only women who are pursuing their passions. Many of the stay-at-home mothers I interviewed find profound personal fulfillment in being at home with their chil-
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