Suse Ochs — Inspirational RoommateMy college roommate Suse (Susan Leigh Skinner Ochs-Scher) from 20 years ago, I remember used to read bridal magazines and go to Pro-Choice rallies. Suse is my heroine because she has always been able to match wit and lightheartedness with a solid connection to her beliefs. In 1989, Suse lent me her car to go on job interview. I found a goofy cartoon on the dashboard that said “See your future, be your future.” A year later, I was having a hard time trying to get established in a new city. She sent me funny cartoons about my new life. Her philosophy and support helped me take a lighter look at the tough task I had set for myself — making my way in a world far from anything familiar.This gift of carrying an ideal with wit, making life more fun, I still try to put into practice today. I make sense of her incongruous pairing of bridal magazines and interest in feminism like this: if you know who you are, and value those roots and your traditions, you keep what is good. To move forward, you must engage your ideology with your wits to be a revolutionary in your own life and engage in your future.
Through trial and error, I eventually got the jobs I wanted. And Suse? She got a graduate degree in feminist literature, married her college sweetheart, and has three thriving children.
See your future, be your future.
-Maria Mortati