If you were an earlier riser back in high school, then you might not have crossed paths with music-lover Camie Pulley, who says "I was definitely not a morning person" in her Whitman era. But a lot can change in twenty years and Camie is now a self-professed early bird, with a good reason to hop out of bed in the mornings: her ten-year-old son, Frank. "Frankie has completely changed my life. Ever since my father, Frank, passed in 2006 I told myself that, should I ever have a boy one day, his name would have to be Frank. And sure enough, I was blessed with a healthy son! Frankie possesses so many similar characteristics that my dad did, and they never even met... he’s just so wonderful," says Camie.
But motherhood hasn't been totally smooth sailing for Camie, who was a single mother until she met her partner, Josh, at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Now, on the cusp of engagement ("he’s going to pop the question soon - I saw the ring 🤣"), Camie says she and "her boys" couldn't be any happier.
Question: What was your favorite part about high school?
Answer: The music program, hands down. What an enriching and amazing experience I had all four years. [After Whitman], I attended the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. I graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 2007!
Question: What are you up to these days? Is it what you thought you'd be doing back in 2003?
Answer: If you told me I would be the Executive Assistant to the Chair of Surgery at Walter Reed, I would have laughed at you. While this is nothing like what I envisioned in high school, it is a wonderful, career-driven job. I’ve endured plenty of mundane and underpaying jobs to get to where I am, and I am very proud that I’m finally in the right place!
And while Camie has racked up an impressive resume of Executive Assistant work, the one that stands out the most to Camie took her to a surprising place: Tuscon, Arizona, "I got to train over 100 people at a call center [there]. I was chosen - me and a few other folks - to live [in Tuscon] for six months and get a brand new call center up. It was an amazing experience."
But maybe it's no surprise that Camie was hand-picked for a job that combined public speaking with overseeing the care of nervous new employees; in her personal life, Camie has an impressive resume of helping others, including her work as a motivational speaker in correctional facilities throughout the state of Maryland, "Helping to lift others up really brings me joy," says Camie.
When asked if she's got any twenty-year-old confessions she's been dying to get off her chest, Camie admitted, "I was always jealous of my sister, Paige [also a Whitman 2003 alum]; she was the popular girl, and I was the band geek. But, I’m sure she already knew that! 😉"
Comments