Veronica Yank ’89

My time at Oakland Technical High School was instrumental to my growth into young adulthood. Recalling my time at Tech releases such a cascade of memories. Inside the classroom, I learned about inspirational teaching, rigorous scholarship, fair play, and the need for a plethora of viewpoints to truly answer any important question. Outside the classroom, I learned about persistent, scarring experiences of inequalities– whether socioeconomic, racial, or gender-specific– and some of the ways to begin to overcome these. I have carried these rich and nuanced lessons with me. They marked me indelibly. Among my kaleidoscope of memories are those of Ms. Wolfe and Ms. Joe’s classrooms in the Paideia program, Dance Club with Ms. Manduke, the pre-engineering drafting tables, Principal Chaconas striding the hallways, lunch on the back steps, after school dances in the basement cafeteria, being welcomed to play on the boys’ soccer team, and dissecting a fetal pig in the science lab on the second floor.

My time at Tech remains a touchstone for my life, one I harken back to even now as a physician scientist, educator, wife, and mother. I am thankful its legacy continues.