How many of us worked temporary jobs after graduating from Southwestern? How many of those jobs reported to APPLE’s future co-founder? Paul Marshall says, “I still have moments of disbelief that I was that close to making history.” He recalls being hired in 1983 at a “rebellious, 7-year-old electronics startup in Carrollton (TX)” to photograph the company’s workforce and make a collage. Then he was asked to assist the manufacturing engineers in constructing “a steel fabricated, gravity fed, assembly line conveyor system. I got to work on my back using hand tools bolting together conveyor sections. It took a month. I didn’t think much about it upon completion, but it revolutionized the business AND the world (in a real way) because it increased their production processes exponentially.” During that brief period of employment, Paul says, he knew that the company garnered little respect from its competitors (EFS, Tandy, TI, Commodore…) and the two “Steves” running the business were a bit unusual, independent thinkers, and not necessarily nice people. A series of unilateral decisions, including a memorable 1984 Super Bowl commercial, resulted in the ouster of one of the Steves, closure of the Carrollton facility, and a move to California. Paul admits he turned down the job transfer along with others, believing “the company had a limited future.” His story didn’t peak there for this transfer student and business graduate from Westerly, Rhode Island, who acted in Drama Professor Angus Springer’s final shows of Our Town, learned about “rolling,” and visited Armadillo World Headquarters while at SU. Paul followed his temporary employment with stints in electronics sales before he returned to Rhode Island, became a chef on a yacht, and then a food merchant for several seafood companies in New England. He was also active in community theater. We all have “the one that got away” memories, but how many of us from Southwestern University had such industry-smashing temporary jobs (from Jobs)? - Written by Iris Bullard Foster ’75