The Wellesley Effect took effect after I left Wellesley. It wasn't something to put on a resume. It is a feeling, and the effect that Wellesley had on me. At times it is the thrill of conceiving a solution to a puzzling problem. At others it is the conviction that Wellesley and my Wellesley sisters always have my back. That same conviction gives new courage when I am discouraged, and trying to reinvent myself at age 60. (That's a tough one, ladies.) It also is the fertile intellectual energy felt when we are together. There really *is* something about a room full of Wellesley women. It also is the "@#$%& you" answer to unfavorable news that "won't stop me from marching in the Alumnae Parade at my 80th Reunion!"