Dr. Karen Morell Director, UW Upward Bound My family did not expect me to be what I am today.   I have sat in villages in Africa, India, Europe, and the Caribbean and have been with people whose lives bore no resemblance to them.  Parts of me are connected still to so many places and people who have no link to this program or anyone here.  My life is wonderfully different from what that very good and loving family ever dreamt for me.  The first time I visited home after receiving my Ph.D., someone phoned asking for Dr. Morell.  My mother started to say they had the wrong number.

Tell one funny event that happened in your life.

The students and staff in this program have provided a vital dose of humor in my life.  I would not want to single one out or give current students any ideas by telling stories of what former students did, or what I myself have done.  No incriminating stories will come from me.

Why did you decide to join the program?

There was no program to join.  I created it in 1983 with the godfather of the program, Bill Baker, out of the hot air of meetings and months of research, old fashioned typewriters. (there were no desktop computers back then), and the sacrifice of our holiday season.  The proposal had to be postmarked the day before Christmas, and I delivered the 200 page proposal to the post office just as they were ready to close the door that December 24, 1983.

What do you think about the students in the program?

I wish that each one would have the courage and drive to be all that I know each person can be.  Upward Bound students have so much potential, and I've watched some do such incredibly remarkable things when they followed their powerful dreams.  Graduates of this program have become nurses and business people, have entered law school, have obtained graduate degrees, and a few are making lots of money in the high tech world.  But also have seen some fall back on the couch and, at least for a while, turn away from their special gifts.  We all lose when that happens.