Sheils Writes

I’ve been thinking over my working years and found this image that transported me back to where it all began. Yes, kids, that was a computer, with a floppy disk, and that was my job.

The year is 1985. I just graduated from Norwalk Community College with a 2 year Associates degree in Secretarial Science. Not quite sure how the word science entered the field however here I am, 20 years old, ready to take on my field of choice.

A Word Processor job opened up and I grabbed it! Excited to help put together the paperwork that would sell anechoic (soundproof) chambers all over the country! We had a telex machine that we would dial up a number, wait for several moments, hear a beep, then press send to share a document with a potential buyer. Ah, I can still smell the cigarette smoke coming from Peggy Thompsons office. The memories stay with me of the years gone by. Our children will not know of this world, so i wanted to briefly document my experience for posterity.

Fast forward to the year 2023. Today I hold a different title, Administrative Assistant. I’ve managed to do this type of work for the better part of 40 years. Somewhere along the line the title changed and a 4 year degree became a requirement. I’ve lost 3 Administrative jobs and left 1 on my own, but the skill set overall has served me well. Typing has not (yet) gone away. Organizing and scheduling seem to be hot in this field while telex machines and floppy disks are a thing of the past.

I think in this day and age I got lucky that I was able to make a living doing admin work. Not sure what 40 years from now will bring for this field as there have been so many transitions to this role, but from my cubicle to yours, keep up that typing speed!