By Paula Gray A’73

Little did I know that when I offered to help the new Finance director at Mount Saint Joseph, Jennifer Stone, in September 2024, that I would be on a learning journey. There are so many file cabinets, just full of older files, which needed to be searched through.

The Finance department is transitioning from keeping a paper copy of all records to maintaining our files on the computer – which leads to a lot of reading and then shredding. I think I am the shred queen with over 100 bags already of shredding.

I have read through so much history of the Academy and Brescia, of properties acquired and properties sold. It is amazing the work and the fortitude of the Sisters. It came alive to me as I read. If you want a project to succeed, just let this group of Ursuline Sisters get behind it. Reading about the many years of daily operations here at MSJ, Brescia, Sisters out on missions, and mergers will make your head spin.

There were many days that I handled old onionskin paper and old plat maps – I was so careful. We finally gave several of these to the archives. I can understand the fascination of studying old files. The wording of old deeds, old legal documents (several handwritten) was so interesting.

I am still reading and shredding to this day – and am enjoying every minute of it. And I get to eat those good Mount lunches, visit with the Sisters, and work with a great bunch of people. This may be my favorite job!