Irwin: My story is a typical story of a Jewish family struggling to put their two sons through school. I was a good student, so I was the designated doctor. I was accepted in McGill’s seven-year medical program shortly after they put it on trial.
My McGill experience was excellent; McGill was the place to be in medicine in Canada, and I was honoured to get in. My whole family was at my graduation.
I became a member of the urologic group at McGill, and a surgeon at the Lakeshore General Hospital for 33 years. I also founded a medical research company, served as director of professional services at the Santa Cabrini Hospital, and work as a lean management consultant in the medical field.
Donna: If you add up all the years that I spent at McGill it’s probably half my life; 30 years and two degrees. I just love McGill and everything about it.
I studied English and French literature at 16, earned my master’s in Boston, then came back to Montreal to teach high school. I got involved in the guidance department and discovered that I really liked counselling.
I stopped teaching for a number of years to have children, then decided to become a counsellor. I spent four years in McGill’s Educational Psychology and Counselling program, did my internship at the McGill Counselling service, and stayed on for 30 years. I loved working with the students and watching it grow.
We’re a family of McGillians: my father and aunt are graduates, as are our three brothers and our three children. (Daniel, BA’94, BCL/LLB’97; Alissa, BA’95, BSW’97, MSW’99; and Jeremy, BA’01, MA’02.)
When Irwin retired, my mother recommended that he join MCLL (McGill Community for Lifelong Learning). She just loved it – she was a member for 15 years.
Irwin: I joined MCLL, but I was very dubious, because I’d never been out of the medical sphere. But I really liked it. It suited my personality, because the next thing I knew I was the president.
Donna: I retired two years ago, and I knew I had to join MCLL. The very first course I took was an Inuit filmmaking course, and it was just wonderful; we will keep going. MCLL is a great place to keep learning and try new things. It’s so nice being on campus and around young students. Hopefully we’ll be back in the fall taking courses in person.
Irwin: You get to feel like you are a part of a place that is yours.