Women's Words on October 13, 2013 featured Part 2 of Duluthian Jocelyn Pihlaja's short story, "Conscious Sedation."
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-1029340.mp3
Women's Words, October 13, 2013: Jocelyn Pihlaja, the Yogi, and the Endodontist (Part 2 of 2)
When Jocelyn headed off to college, she avowed, "I'm going to be a lawyer." Then she took her first political science class and was forced to concede, "Except I hate this stuff."
Lacking direction and major, she drifted through thoughts of sociology and psychology, meandering through the disciplines, until one day she recalled, "Hey, didn't I read The Good Earth sixteen times in fifth grade? Didn't I read Gone with the Wind twenty-six times that same year? Didn't I have my mind blown by Henry James and Tolstoy before I even understood what they were writing about? Could it be what I really love are books...and words?"
It could. Eventually, English major and degrees in hand, she began teaching writing at the college level, a career she's enjoyed since 1991. Since then, she's gained a husband who cooks dinner every night, kids who hold up hands requesting "silence" when their reading is interrupted, and a blog, O Mighty Crisis.
Women's Words airs Sundays at 1:30pm and 3:30pm. Funding for Women's Words is provided by The Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
