Mayor O'Neill kicks off Women's History Month

Mayor Beverly O'Neill of Long Beach kicked off Women's History Month Wednesday with her speech titled "What is the Time of Your Life?"

"Now I have to tell you, I still don't know the time of my life," revealed O'Neill, "because every year has been the time of my life."

With her speech, O'Neill lead the audience through the events of her life and shared her philosophy in hopes of helping to shed light on their own lives.

"When you are looking at your life, and what you're going to do with your life, you can do anything at whatever age, whether you are a man or a woman," said the Cal State Long Beach alumnus. "This is the time of your life. Today is the time of your life."

"I think all of us are thinking 'I want to be a nuclear physicist but that's not too realistic.' 'I might want to be mayor of the city but that's probably not too realistic.' But those are things that you might want to think towards."

O'Neill said she never considered becoming mayor of Long Beach until a friend suggested that she run for office. After initially resisting the idea, O'Neill had to see what she said no to. Deciding to run, O'Neill surprised herself, as well as others, with her victory.

O'Neill says that she believes that it is important to maintain one's hopes and aspirations, no matter how improbable they might seem.

"When you have hope, you have everything," O'Neill said. "When you have no hope, you have nothing."

O'Neill, who would eventually become president of Long Beach City College, was hired by the school in 1962 as a women's advisor and music teacher.

While an instructor at LBCC, O'Neill learned of a desire among a number of her friends who had children to continue their education. In period during which women were not encouraged to return to continue their education, O'Neill took action to establish a child study center to care for students' children.

O'Neill also developed a class called "College and Career Opportunities for Women." She believed that the class would last no longer then 10 years. Her idea, in fact, has been going on now for 26 years.

The ability to change according to society's emphasis is what she attributes to the success of this class. When she first started the class, the emphasis was on women were "displaced homemakers" (women with children who suddenly find themselves without a husband or working skills to depend on). Currently, the class is focused on the needs of the single parent.

"This is my past life," said O'Neill. "But it is an important part of my life. It is something I believe in and have a strong commitment for so many years because I see many lives changed."

With each level of growth, O'Neill said she believes people gain a new bit of knowledge for further understanding the times of their lives.

"The time of your life is whenever you want it to be." she said. "And if you're working today on your future, on the time of your life, you will have a time when you say 'This has been a wonderful life.'''