Susan Okie has known Sally Ride since they were students together at Westlake School. She remembers her as a "fleet-footed fourteen-year-old with a self-confident grin" who was her academic rival. They have remained close friends, even though their lives have taken them in different directions. Susan Okie also attended Swarthmore College and later went to Radcliffe, from which she graduated with a degree in biology. She received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1978. She now works as a medical journalist for the Washington Post.