My name is Molly Dickson and I am attending Peninsula Colleges’ Multimedia Communications course. I will graduate with an Associate of Applied Science degree. This site is the foundation of a career I have waited a long time for and the baby steps for my dream of writing.
Molly Dickson
284562 Hwy 101
Port Townsend, Wa 98368
360-301-3784
Maude in the Middle
Maude was the fifth child born into a hippie woman living on a commune and a merchant marine in 1967. When she was six months old, the family decided to move from Camp Meeker in California to the Olympic Peninsula. Her parents owned a Siamese tomcat at the time. Space was at a premium, so a trunk was made into a bed for her. The tomcat and she were both dosed with tranquilizers and, with her older siblings sitting on the trunk, they headed for Washington.
They eventually settled in Forks in a six-bedroom, clapboard farmhouse in the middle of nowhere where Maude thrived and grew into a sturdy child. No running water or electricity were a big change, but the family worked to become self-sufficient. Many adventures were had; notable was the tracking of the herd of horses to the neighboring ranch, over a mile away, at six in the morning when she was three. The memories of her childhood in Forks are remembered as some of the finest times in her life.
In 1975 the family was forced to move; Quilcene was the destination, and a single-wide, three-bedroom trailer was to be Maude’s new home. By now the family had seven children. It was very tight quarters and there was still no running water or electricity. She milked a cow every day. They lived Quilcene until Maude graduated high school in 1986.
In 1987 Maude met the man of her dreams on April 1st. It was love at first sight. They were married on May 23rd of the same year. A baby boy arrived late in 1988. She got her dream job at a veterinary office in 1990 and worked there for 29 ½ years. When she was terminated during COVID her whole world collapsed. In a deep depression, she cast about for something to hang on to.
For two years she didn’t know what to do so she wrote. The words flowed out of her like water. Not knowing what she was doing, she started a blog. It was well received by her family and friends, but because she lacked the skill to set the blog up correctly, it didn’t go anywhere. She tried different jobs in the veterinary world; nothing seemed to fit. Not giving up, Maude looked for hope. She believed that everything she has gone through up to this point is leading her to something better. She knew she wanted to publish her own books so she began looking into jobs or training that would allow her to learn to publish e-books. She found the Multimedia program at Peninsula college in 2022 and enrolled. Her first quarter was epic; she had found her niche! She is still in school, studying hard, hoping to get a degree that will allow her to work while publishing her own books. For now, she is a preschool teacher, domesticating children.