Geneseo Storyteller: Barbara Vilardo '74

I liked Geneseo because it was a smaller college, and they had a three-year program when I started as a freshman. I lived on campus. I really enjoyed going to the plays that they had, and I helped out sewing costumes for some of the performances. I always remember seeing The Eagles in the gym, and my two sisters came to see them with me. Another thing that I was really happy doing was that I got a part-time job in the faculty dining room. I would serve my professors lunch and then go to class. I also worked helping The Lamron, and I remember I would help print out stories on the special machine they had for the newspaper. I was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, which was an honor society. What was great was that at the end of my third year, they had a special program study abroad with Dr. Ronald 'Ron' Herzman and Dr. William 'Bill' Cook. That was the first time they took a group of students to England. We studied on campus for three weeks, and then we were in London for three weeks. It was important for my career because I ended up being an English teacher. I left teaching after five years, but later on I went back for an MBA in marketing. Combining that with my undergraduate English education helped me to get a job in PR. That was really great because I ended up in PR for 20 years.