Antoinette Desomma kept pretty much to herself when she began college in 1983 at UConns Waterbury campus.

Things changed for the better later that year in her calculus class, when Desomma answered many questions posed to the students. Because of her grasp on the subject, one day after class a fellow student, Diane Peccerillo, asked her for help.

"She thought I was some kind of genius," Desomma says.

So the two would get together after class and study together in the library. This marked the beginning of a great friendship, one that is almost 14 years old.

Desomma will get another opportunity to talk about this experience and many others she had at the Waterbury campus with fellow alumnae at 11 a.m. April 2 in the auditorium on the campus.

The symposium, "In Our own Words: 50 years of Education at the Waterbury Campus," is being held in observance of Womens History Month and in conjunction with the campus's 50th anniversary celebration. It will bring together six women covering each decade beginning with the 1940s.

"This forum will give them an opportunity to talk about how they came here, what the classroom was like and how things have changed," said Susan A. Eisenhandler, chair of the symposium and an assistant professor of sociology at the Waterbury campus.

When Desomma headed to the main campus in 1985, not only did she take good grades with her, but also a good friend.

"Diane and I ended up rooming together," Desomma says. "Not only did we live together for two years, but we were both pharmacy majors."

LM