Alumnae Profile
Stephenie J. Sullivan ’98
Solving Problems, Fighting Fires
If you thought passing the legal bar exam or serving a medical residency was rough, listen to this: Stephenie J. Sullivan ’98 was asked to drag a 175-pound dummy thirty feet around a barrel as part of the final agility test to become a firefighter in Portland, Oregon. And that was just the start of it.
She also had to carry a fire hose up a fivestory building on a ladder, in full firefighting gear. Timed, no less. Those were just two of the debilitating exercises on the exam that had many entrants dropping like flies. Six guys failed right in front of her. She and one other gal were the only women who passed the excruciating test, that time ‘round. So now when people ask her, as many do, if, as a woman, she has the strength to be a firefighter, she chuckles. “Of course I could pull you out of a burning building,” she tells them. Any day.
Stephenie didn’t grow up wanting to be a firefighter. A sociology major at MHC, she went on to earn a master’s degree in exercise physiology and had every intention of working with professional athletes at an Olympic training center. But as she worked her way though technical school as a personal trainer, she met lots of firefighters who said she had all the qualities essential to the profession—strength, athleticism, aggression, competitiveness, and problem-solving. Still, it wasn’t until she went on a ride-along with a crew five years later that she became sold on the idea. “It was one of the most eye-opening experiences I ever had,” she remembers. “It had everything I enjoyed,” she says. “The medical aspect, the physical aspect, they were competitive, and it had the service aspect with the neighbors. It just warmed my heart.” While she didn’t at the time get to experience fighting a fire, the crew assured her that if she was an adrenalin junkie, she’d love it. “It’s better than any roller coaster ride,” they said, and she came to agree. She isn’t alone. There are forty women in the Portland fire department—out of 700—including an acting female fire chief.
Now fully trained and on the job, Stephenie points to the myriad of subjects she still needs to master. A better understanding of serious tools such as chainsaws. The ins-and-outs of high-rise firefighting. Building construction. “My goal for the next five to ten years is just to gain as much knowledge as I can from others with more experience,” she says. “Then I’ll look at promotion.”—M.H.B.
