By Kim Colway
Kathy Seamans Wilcox, a former Mini-School student, gave me some insight about how Mini-School was from 1971, the year she started Mini-School, to 1974, the year she graduated, and how it affected her whole life in a positive way.
As I talked with Kathy about why she went to Mini-School, her reasons sounded very familiar. Not
going to classes and not liking the traditional teaching that mainstream does are some of the reasons that people go to Mini-School (now). Some of the ways Mini-School affected her sounded familiar too. She said that Mini made her a stronger person, with better self-esteem by making her realize that she could do anything that she put her mind to.
She said Mini trips had a lot to do with what she learned about life. She tried to go on every trip they offered; she even went on a hiking trip with Doug during the summer! She told me that the trips made her a stronger person by pushing her past what she thought were her limits.
Even though Kathy graduated 22 years ago, Mini is still important in her life because of how much it influenced her life. She still keeps in touch with Mini-School teachers, and is especially thankful to Doug and Randy for the positive influence they had on the rest of her life. Kathy is currently working as a customer service manager and trainer at Community Credit. She has been married for 8 years and has 2 boys ages 6, and 9. Kathy and her family live in Bloomington. Kathy summed it up by saying that Mini-School seems to be the same and said “Doug’s the same as he was 20 years ago. He’s just older with grey hair.”