O'Connor, the daughter of former Twentynine Palms Mayor Liz Meyer, graduated from Twentynine Palms High School in 1987 and served in the Peace Corps in Sri Lanka from 1992 to 1994 before going on to become vice president of domestic markets at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Sri Lanka RPCV Angela Meyer O'Connor inducted into TPHS Hall of Fame
Two inducted into TPHS Hall of Fame
By Kurt Schauppner
The Desert Trail
Published: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 6:06 PM CDT
TWENTYNINE PALMS - Keep moving forward, set the course and, if you do something, really go for it.
[Excerpt]
That was the advice Angela Meyer O'Connor had for Twentynine Palms High School students when she and fellow Wildcat alum William Brown were inducted into the Twentynine Palms High School Hall of Fame in a special ceremony at the school on Friday, April 30.
Brown and O'Connor join 28 other Twentynine Palms High School graduates who have been inducted into the school's Hall of Fame since 1991.
They were selected by a committee comprised of teachers Jessica Hanson, Pete Ricards and Kevin Slotta, and students Jacob Michener, Natasha Goehring and Vaela'a Tuioletai.
O'Connor, the daughter of former Twentynine Palms Mayor Liz Meyer, graduated from Twentynine Palms High School in 1987 and served in the Peace Corps in Sri Lanka from 1992 to 1994 before going on to become vice president of domestic markets at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
[Excerpt]
"This is truly old home week," Noland Lockwood said when introducing O'Connor, his former math student who was involved with a wide variety of school activities, from drama to speech and debate.
"She was involved in everything but she was also involved in her education and her education is what led her to where she is today," Lockwood said.
"Angela is a stellar role model, showing kids from Twentynine Palms that, indeed, they can go anywhere," he said.
In her talk, O'Connor presented a parade of memories that ranged from struggling through a senior calculus test in 1987 to hooking up with fellow college travelers in Spain in 1990 and spending a memorable 1993 Thanksgiving Day in a mud hut in Sri Lanka teaching children how to speak English.
She also talked about time spent in Siberia in 1995, feeling her lungs freeze every time she inhaled and witnessing tragic history when terrorists attacked New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, then reflected on her life after the birth of her son, David, in 2007. In the end, those paths all lead O'Connor back home.
"It's good to be back in the desert I love," she said.
Comments? Questions? E-mail Kurt Schauppner at kurts@deserttrail.cm
