- Handle/Tag – #Ascenturion
- Coordinator of Ascent Program
and Professor of Communication & Media studies
Hi folks!
I’m the Coordinator of the Ascent program and a Professor in the CMS department. I was one of the original faculty to teach in this program when it was a summer-only program and I jumped at the chance to lead the program as we turned it into a full-year (and FOUR year) program.
I was a first-generation college student like some of you. I arrived at college totally unprepared for the academic and social challenges I would face. Here’s a secret: I failed every course except French in that first semester. Why? A lot of things–I got homesick, I got the worst case of strep throat I have ever had–but what really killed me was that I missed a LOT of classes in my first month. Then I was too embarrassed to talk to my professors so I missed MORE classes. I got really depressed. This was in the days before email (when woolly mammoths roamed the plains of Northern Missouri), so when I didn’t go to class, there was no practical way for my profs to reach out to me.
It was a disaster.
But then I transferred to a smaller college–much like PSU–and I found professors who cared about me (and who I really cared about, too). I got good grades, became a student-leader, went to graduate school…clearly I turned it around.
But that’s why I’m so passionate about Ascent. I remember very clearly feeling out of my element when I went to that first school. I remember being convinced I wasn’t “college material.” I was!
When I was a freshman on the verge of flunking out, I assumed my profs had written me off. I imagined they would have greeted me with anger if I had shown up after missing 5 or 6 classes in a row. I now know that if I had worked up the courage to knock on their office doors in that first month, they would have been relieved to see me. They would have happily offered me a chance to get myself back on the path.
My job is to watch out for you; to celebrate your successes; to help you open the right doors…and to call you when you’re not going to class.
Welcome to college. I hope we see each other often.
Hobbies & Trivia
- Barbecue! I come from Kansas City, the BBQ capital of the world (in my learned opinion), and I am PSU’s only certified BBQ Judge.
- In the Spring of 2016, I led a group of PSU students for a semester in Sorrento, Italy. It was an amazing experience and I am passionate about helping students to have study abroad experiences!
- This will be my 18th year at PSU. The first 8 were in the English department, and the last 10 have been with Communication & Media studies.
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