DAVE DONOVAN: After eight years with the Sulpicians (six at SJC, one at St. Pat's, and the last back at SJC), I left the seminary in 1969. Four days later I was sworn in as a patrol officer at the Oakland Police Department. Of course, at that time I knew much more about Caesar and the Gallic Wars than about police work. But a fifteen week police academy remedied that deficiency.

SJC had prepared me well for the academy: efficient study habits, sans study hall; good physical conditioning (thanks to the Bears, Indians, Trojans, and Ramblers); and writing skills that exceeded those used in most police reports: "perp," I am sure Pop Rock would have required using the entire word, not just the first syllable.) To this day I still find myself pulling out the Oxford Greek-English Dictionary to satisfy etymological curiosity. The police job had its advantages and disadvantages; the best part was going to work each day without knowing what types of assignments I would have to handle that day. Variety is indeed the spice of police work. After twenty-two years in Oakland, I moved over to the Piedmont P.D. for nine years, and retired at the end of 2000. I taught traffic violator school (a.k.a., captive-audience-by-law school) for awhile; but no longer. I do still have my part-time job at the Oakland Coliseum: imagine being paid to watch baseball and football games as you work. Photography and amateur geology also occupy a chunk of my time these days. Classes in photography and geology were just what I needed to jump-start this phase of my life. Some of my pictures have been sold, and others have been published --what great fun.

My 1971 marriage ended in divorce thirteen years later, but I have three adult children to brag about: Amy, age 33; Brian, an engineer in San Jose; and Beth, 26 and a missile builder at Lockeed in Sunnyvale. Brian and Beth are closer to the old SJC campus than I am in San Leandro. The best day of my life, so far, was my toast/speech at Beth's wedding in 2004.  All those classes in public speaking paid off big time, and I owe Fr. O'Neill for teaching me how to organize my presentation.

PS. Sorry for overusing "I," but...well, you know.

davidwdonovan@earthlink.net