b"A Maplewood resident changes courseBY ELLEN DONKERDeMetha Hukins Simmonds.Photo by Julia Maloof Verderosa.I n the late 1980s when DeMetha Then one day in 2015, she got a HukinsSimmondswasacol- call from the Metropolitan Transit Au-lege student trying to plan outthority asking her if she wanted to be a her career, one thing was clear:train operator. I was like, whos this? she had no interest in follow- she says. ing in her fathers footsteps. HisWhat job was in transit and, althoughareyou hemadeanhonestliving,workingtalking on trains left him dirty, bruised andabout? exhausted on a daily basis. Instead, Simmonds setpolished wardrobe, the approval from her colleagues.Theyremindedher her sights on a B.A. in business management andOn the home front, she and her husband settled inthat she had taken a finance, and started a career in banking. Maplewood around 2000, and raised two children: atransittestsixyears If her father were alive to see her now, he wouldson and a daughter. She had a complete life. before, in 2009. And probably have himself a good laughmaybe even anEventually, though, she started feeling stuck andit all came back: how I told you so momentbecause Simmonds is now auninspired by banking. Each day had a sameness toshe had given in to her train operator. She is doing the very job she swore sheit and she was bored. She says she was thinking, IAunt Peggys repeated would never take. And she couldnt be more tickled.really dont want to be here now. Im too young tonudgingtotakethe True, she had built a successful career in bankingretire. How do you look for something else whentesteventhoughshe over the course of three decades, with promotionsyoure making money here and youre getting older?wasnt interested. She along the way and stints in almost every department.You know, how do you make that transition withwas a banker, after all.Simmonds' father was a transit And Simmonds did take pride in the prestige thatthe money that you want and expect? I couldnt getBut now, the ideaworker. She never dreamed she would follow in his foot-came with her career: the well-appointed office, herit together. I didnt have an exit strategy.oftryingsomethingsteps.14/ matters magazine / fall 2022"