Editor’s Note: “Stories from strangers” is a bi-weekly column that features people regularly seen on campus who aren’t affiliated with Point Loma Nazarene University. This series seeks to share their stories, understand what draws them to PLNU and serve as a reminder that every stranger has a story worth hearing.
Barbara Fletcher is a local resident who lives in the quaint neighborhood that borders Point Loma Nazarene University. She and her husband moved to Moana Street in 1999 and have lived there ever since.
Fletcher’s father was a member of the Navy stationed in San Diego for the majority of her childhood, making San Diego her home for most of her life. She studied mechanical engineering at Stanford University and graduated with her master’s degree in 1982. She and her husband Walt, after bonding over beach days and chemistry homework their first year at Stanford, got married the week of their graduation. Fletcher went on to a distinctive career, where she specialized in underwater robots, “just like the ones that found the Titanic,” she said.
The Point: How did you end up picking your major and career?
Barbara Fletcher: I took a summer program in high school that introduced me to different aspects of engineering, but I wanted to be a mechanical engineer because it gave me the biggest base. I used to call myself an ocean engineer, though, because I worked with undersea systems. I always had a passion for the ocean and enjoyed the marine biology aspect. I just also wanted to be able to eat and make enough for a living.
TP: How would you describe yourself from when you were in college, and what advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?
BF: In college, I worked really hard because I went to a very small high school and was a big fish in a small pond who became a small fish in a very big pond (at Stanford). My biggest advice to myself would have been to do more activities without giving up on studying, because I was very glad for the activities and things I did do. Take advantage of the opportunities you get to explore, and don’t be afraid to take chances and try new things.
TP: Is there anything you regret doing or not doing during your college years?
BF: One of the things I was sorry about was that, as an engineer, I didn’t have time to study overseas. Because we never got to go, my husband, who is also an engineer, and I decided to go to Europe for our honeymoon and travel to all the places that our friends went to when they were abroad. We got to see all the places we wished we went to when we were in college.
TP: Do you believe you were able to find a balance between making memories and studying?
BF: Overall, yes. There were times when I was hurried and panicked, but the things I remember for the most part were the trips to the beach — trips up to San Francisco when we were pulling dim sum off of the tray, even though we didn’t know what it was, and going backpacking in Yosemite for the first time — that sort of thing. I sweated the midterms and the finals, but it was the memories I remember.
TP: Is walking through Point Loma’s campus a common routine and route for you, and what is your impression of the people here?
BF: We normally do walks through here. Our route would change at times, but we have been coming through campus for a while. The campus has always been a wonderful place to bring all the pups, because the students are so nice and friendly. Because we come through here so much, we now know Jess, the trainer down by the track, and Kailani (Barbara’s dog) pokes her nose through the door to say hello each time.
TP: What is the best piece of advice that you have ever received?
BF: Go for it. Don’t be afraid of taking chances. My parents were wonderful, and they taught me so many good lessons … but my father was a naval officer and worked very hard at it. He died of lung cancer at 49, but before that, they would always talk about what they were going to do when Daddy died. That’s one thing I think I’ve done well along the way — is not putting off things when I have the opportunity to do it, because you might never know what will turn up. Do it while you can.
Olivia Roberts