PSU Magazine Fall 1998

E ver fantasized about leaving work at the end of the day and never coming back? Maybe you've always dreamed of running your own business. Maybe you've felt there has to be something more to life. Or maybe your boss is the Boss from Hell and you just can't take it anymore. Wouldn't you love to just walk away from it all? But of course you can't. What about your career? Your family? Your lifestyle? Well, what about yo?. If you're not happy with what you do eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, 2,000 hours a year, maybe you should do something about it. Or maybe the choice is not yours-the company downsizes, right– sizes, re-engineers or merges you out of a job. It can be the stuff of nightmares. Or not. "With all the mergers in banking, anyone could see it was only a matter of time before we merged, too," says Dan Gemma '64, a former First Interstate vice president. "Then where would I be? No retirement. No prospects. Who would hire a fifty– something vice president in an indus– try downsizing right and left. For four years I lost many a night's sleep think– ing about it." Gemma was lucky. When his company merged, he parachuted into a job he likes so well that he's turned down higher pay and more prestige to stay. Channing Pinkerton '97, also squeezed out lemonade when he was 12 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1998 pink-slipped from Precision Castparts. And Leslie Powers '98, did the terrify– ing and enviable; she traded in 'a successful 12-year nursing career for the chance to start over at something she loves. If you've ever thought about chuck– ing it all for a new career or worried about whether your job will be there tomorrow, the stories of these alums, and some nuts-and-bolts advice from the PSU Career Center, just might open a window for daydreaming or By Melissa Steineger even escape, depending on your night– mare tolerance. 00 an Gemma had it all, or as much as anyone could want: comer office in a downtown tower, a job that paid in six figures before the annual bonus, stock options and benefits, 32 years with the same company, and the respect of his peers. He also had nightmares. With mergers rampant in the bank– ing industry-every month seemed to Dan Gemma '64 traded his big-bank career for one that brings him closer to customers like Tony Catalan '67, owner of Trashco Service Inc.