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| Hi! My name is Marge Foster and I am the secretary for the Computer Science Department. Anything and everything you will ever need to know about the department, the professors I work for (i.e., their office hours, teaching schedules) or scheduling an appointment with the staff is my responsibility. If you are a CS major I will probably know you better than if you are just taking courses to meet your area requirements, but please don't let that stop you from coming in and saying hello and checking out the candy dish. |
I have been at Canisius College since 1987 where I started in the Admissions Office. In 1992 the Admissions office wanted to change my hours to 4 - 8 p.m. Since I wanted to be home with my children in the evenings, when the opening in Computer Science came to be, I applied for the position. I figured that if I did not wipe out the college records by using a computer to enter data in Admissions, I would have a second chance to bring things to a screeching halt by working in Computer Science. However, having the knowledgeable staff on hand that I work for, I guessed that they could rescue me from any faux pas I made! I have been in Computer Science since and have discovered several interesting things. First of all, the faculty is by far the most kind and compassionate around. They are interested in their students, how they are learning, what they are accomplishing and willing to go the extra mile with a student having problems.
They are always accessible, and the amount of knowledge they have stored in their brains surely equals any "pentium processor" that Bill Gates or any other computer mogul can throw at them. I also discovered that CS students are not geeky creatures with their eyes glazed over from using the computer. They are fun, inventive, curious and can usually be bribed with candy or any other food that contains sugar!
Our students are a social entity within themselves, yet diverse enough to have lives that do not require computers. I enjoy the students and really do miss the "friendly noise" when they are not around. By the time our students graduate, I feel like a friend is leaving; however, another group of them is just coming up and I have new friends to meet.
On a personal note, my life has been almost exactly as I wanted it to be. I have the worlds best husband and two daughters. When I was younger and thought of my life in terms of now, I always wanted to have two daughters because I grew up with three brothers and never had the relationship of a sister. So when my second daughter was born, my dream came true. It may seem strange to some, but I always wanted to be a mom who was home with her children. I was lucky in that respect too. I was a stay at home mom for 13 years and I got to see my children take their first steps, say their first words and establish a relationship with them that has a strong foundation. THAT is one of my best accomplishments. In May I will be married 25 years (I was a child bride) to the same person! I guess that is another accomplishment in these times! I have a very strong family bond to my brothers and to my mom.
I also have a new (or fairly new) puppy named Murphy. She is a Cairn Terrier and her full name registered with the AKC is Foster's Murphy Brown. The reason for her name is that she has fur the same color as Candice Bergen's hair color on Murphy Brown and she is just as determined and as funny as Candice Bergen was on the show.
My ambition in life (when I grow up) is to be the next Erma Bombeck. For those of you who do not know who she was, Erma was a syndicated writer who took everyday life experiences and pointed out the humor in them. I believe that humor is such an important part of life. If you can't laugh at things, including yourself, life can get the best of you. There are not too many things that do not have some humorous value! Maybe I will start out by writing articles and putting them up on my home page for all to read. If you find them interesting, you can tell me so. You can also tell me if they are not!
| This is a picture of my daughter Kate and the "boss" of our home, Murphy. Murphy is a one year old Cairn Terrorist who "owns" everything and everyone in our home. She is truly a "people" dog and just loves to sit with anyone and be in the middle of every conversation. |
| This is Murphy again in a pile of flowers! She is so curious about everything and just has to investigate! |
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| As you can see, Murphy is the Queen of the house. She must have heard someone in front of the house. In order for her to see, she climbed on the kitchen table and when she was tired, just went to sleep! |
