Although you are a familiar face on campus, there are many new faculty and staff members here. What can you look forward to this school year with so many new people to work with?<strong>Although you are a familiar face on campus, there are many new faculty and staff members here. What can you look forward to this school year with so many new people to work with?</strong> Although you are a familiar face on campus, there are many new faculty and staff members here. What can you look forward to this school year with so many new people to work with?
I’m very excited to welcome them to Baker. I think it’s exciting to always have new people in because they bring stories and ideas and thoughts from other places. And that’s already being seen true with our new executive vice president, (Brian)Posler. I’ve really enjoyed hearing his ideas for Baker and how to make it better and growing, especially the honors program.
What are you looking forward to most about this school year?<strong> What are you looking forward to most about this school year?</strong> What are you looking forward to most about this school year?
That is a hard one because every year I get excited about the start of school, and it’s not like something has changed or that something is brand new that stands out to me. But every year there’s this energy that happens in August when all the students come back whether they’re new or returning. And so, every year I get this way. I just get really excited for the possibilities of what’s to come. So there’s no one highlight that I can come up with, it’s just I’m really excited to begin another great year.
What did you do this summer and what was the most exciting thing you did?<strong> What did you do this summer and what was the most exciting thing you did?</strong> What did you do this summer and what was the most exciting thing you did?
Our summer was really interesting. When I say ‘our,’ I mean my family. Last summer, my daughter volunteered at the humane shelter and as a result of that, we now have four dogs. Now keep in mind these are four dogs that nobody else wanted. Like, they were not adoptable dogs. So as a result, this summer we have put in new floors throughout our entire house. We got the house painted, and we did some work at the house. It’s really uninteresting stuff, but it was really great to get that done. We did take a weekend trip and we went to St. Louis. It was 1,000 degrees and we got the see the Cardinals. We also went to go see the musical ‘Chicago’ outside. Otherwise, I watched my son play a lot of baseball, so I was at the baseball fields a lot.
You just recently received your doctorate degree. Can you tell me about that experience and what made you decide to work toward your doctorate? <strong> You just recently received your doctorate degree. Can you tell me about that experience and what made you decide to work toward your doctorate? </strong> You just recently received your doctorate degree. Can you tell me about that experience and what made you decide to work toward your doctorate?
The experience was tiring for sure, but in the same breath, it was great to be back in the classroom. I started classes in August 2009 and completed my degree May 2012. There were lots of sacrifices I asked of my family. I missed games, school plays, family dinners. They were so supportive Earning the doctorate was very important to me especially working in a place of education and hopefully as a role model for others. My dissertation was about Baker students, their success and retention. I am hopeful that the information gathered can be helpful to the university and students.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to new students here at Baker?<strong> What is one piece of advice you&#8217;d give to new students here at Baker?</strong> What is one piece of advice you’d give to new students here at Baker?
Hold on and let go. Hold on to your inner values and who you are and let go to explore new opportunities, meet diverse people and gain experiences.
