Archives for January 2015

My Name is Michael McCormick; I am currently a Federal Mine Inspector for the Department of Labor here in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I have been in this position for almost 2 years. Prior to this I was a Federal Police Officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs. I was also active duty Air Force for 7 years after I graduated high school.

My future as we speak is a bit up in the air due to my wife’s recent promotion to a new office in Tampa Florida. I would love to continue my safety career either on the Industry side of thing or possibly stay within the government and keep my federal employment time. I have the option to go back and become a police officer again but that doesn’t have the same appeal as when I originally became one 7 years ago.

It’s not necessarily a quote but I have always thought “lead by example” is a great idea. If the employees see you performing then they will perform.
I grew up in Youngstown Ohio and joined the United States Air Force in 1999. I was stationed in Great Falls Montana, Prince Sultan Air Base Saudi Arabia and Ramstein Germany. I have been married to my wife Nancy for 13 years and I have two little girls, Reese and Cam ages 9 and 4. They seem to keep us very busy with school and extracurricular activities.

Hello, I am Michele Peese and I live in Aaronsburg, Pennsylvania where I am the mother of three boys and work full-time at the Pennsylvania State University in the Office for Student Orientation and Transition Programs. I earned my Associate Degree in August of 2012 and have been slowly working towards my Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership. In September of 2014 I earned my 25 years of Service Award to Penn State.

 

A little more on the area that I live in, Aaronsburg was founded by Aaron Levy and is the Centre of the state of Pennsylvania. If you drive through town you will wonder why the houses are set back so far from the streets and the reason being at one time it was thought that this would be the Capital of Pennsylvania instead of Harrisburg. A few miles away from Aaronsburg a town of Centre Hall, home of the Centre County Grange Fair. This is the local county fair that becomes home to 900 tenting families and over 1,000 RV campers for a week in August.

As the proud mother of three boys: Blake (19), Burton (16) and Branston (13). They keep me extremely busy with their activities in school: 4-H, music, TSA, Soccer, church, and the community; have been part of football, basketball and wrestling in the past. In my spare time I enjoy reading, crafting (crocheting and rug making). I enjoy baking over cooking.

My job working as a Program Assistant in Student Orientation and Transition Programs involves working directly with the director of the office managing the budget, supervising the Student Program Specialist and Check-in Crew; I oversee all check-ins for our programs as well as reserving facilities space for programming.

I love quotes and do not have a favorite one at this time because I have a large collection of them. I will share the following from a card that a former student employee gave to me: The great opportunity is where you are. Every place is under the stars. Every place is the center of the Universe……(John Burroughs)

Hello, I am Laurel Reid and I live in Henrico, Virginia where I am a single mother and have been coaching competitive swimming for seven years. As a coach to children four to eighteen years old it is my responsibility to lead them to personal victories in the pool while developing life skills such as perseverance, goal setting, hard work, dedication, teamwork, good sportsmanship, and community service.
This is my fourth semester at Penn State where I am working to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Letters, Arts, and Sciences with a concentration in linguistics. I am hoping to find work in translation and ESL instruction. As for my favorite leadership quote, I am drawn to the words of Ovid, “A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward.” In my experience as a coach, rewarding and complementing a job well done leads to respect and a motivation to fix one’s weaknesses.
As I close out this post I wanted to give you all a little more information about myself. As I mentioned above I have a daughter who is eight years old (and swims on my team). I enjoy lots of outdoor activities including hiking, canoeing, and fishing. I also love music and have a growing vinyl collection. As for an unusual hobby I am very interested in genealogical research. I have found the process of researching my family tree to be utterly enthralling!
I look forward to working alongside all of you this semester,
Laurel

Hello Class! My name is Jeslynn Puskar. Although I am a Florida native, I currently reside in Virginia Beach, VA. I separated from the military as an FA-18C mechanic to pursue the dream of a career in law. Upon my separation I was selected for an internship which recently turned into a full time job as a paralegal. I am also here at Penn State World Campus Online as a full time student finishing up my B.S. in Organizational Leadership. I plan to take a few months off after I graduate to study for the LSAT and then apply to law school. Eventually, I would like to get involved with humanitarian work. Also, after I retire I would like to be a yoga instructor. As for leadership experiences, I have had an interesting few such as a community service event planner, supervisor in the Navy, and fitness coach. It will be quite the challenge to shake the following quote as my all time favorite: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle. I am unmarried without children but would like to be a wife and mother of two someday. Sometimes I feel that I am interested in everything under the sun, but to narrow it down here are a few; fitness, outer space, travel, reading, yoga, meditation, cooking, sleeping, diving, swimming, surfing, paddle boarding, riding bikes, drinking wine, dancing, and laughter. The most unusual hobby is probably cleaning. I am always trying to prefect the ritual. My friends call me OCD, but to me, there is nothing better than a sparkling clean house! I am looking forward to learning and working with you all! Good luck this semester!

Hello,

My name is Josh. I’m a 20 year old student. I’ve elected to attend Penn State World Campus because of the flexibility it offers around my schedule. I’m currently working at an Apple Retail store but am interviewing with other companies to find a full time position. I’m currently working as a sales specialist at my store.

I live just outside of Chicago. I could drive there in about 45 minutes. I’m just starting out professionally and don’t have a ton of professional leadership experience. In the long run, I would love to be a worship leader at a church. I’m very passionate about music and leading others in worship. I’m not sure at this point if that will be a full time position or in a part time capacity. If I do that more part time, I would love to be the leader of a team in some business. I want to make an impact with people and make their day better.

The best example of past leadership experiences I’ve had would be last year when I was a part of the Apple Business Team. I did an experience where I partnered with them for about 5 months and was able to work with business customers. This gave me experience leading and teaching my team members how to interact and provide great experiences for business customers.

As I already mentioned, I’m very passionate about worship. I have been blessed to play lead guitar at my church. The picture was last summer at a retreat in Indiana. I love doing nothing more! It was for the high school ministry and we have another one coming up in a week and a half. I’m very excited about getting the opportunity to lead worship again at these large retreats.

 

I look forward to working with all of you!

 

Josh

I live in Greene County, Pa. just outside of Jefferson. I currently work as a foreman in the coal mines for Consol Energy. With the completion of this degree, BS in Organizational Leadership, I am hoping it will unlock doors for higher level of advancement within my industry. While money is the main objective, I also believe in leading for success.Many can become a boss at work and tell people what to do, but it takes skill and courage to become a leader. This is what I am striving to do with this degree.

MY favorite quote will seem a bit odd to many, unless you have been there most will not understand.  “Semper Fidelis” or “Semper Fi” for short. This simple little phrase is the Marine Corps Motto. It is Latin for “always faithful” or “always loyal”  and provides much, much more meaning to me. Having served in the United States Marine Corps, I have this instilled into me in such a way that i use it in every day dealing with life. Faithful to my job, my employees, my work, my goals, and my family. Marines have always led the way. As a Marine, we were taught you lead by example and the meaning of being a leader is not standing tall barking orders, but shouting over your shoulder for the rest to follow you as you LEAD them. As many have guessed by now, I am partial to Marines and more importantly to our Veterans of all ages. This takes up most of my free time by being involved with the American Legion, Patriot Guard Riders and American Legion Riders, all of which I currently hold leadership roles both at the local and the state level.

When i do have that very rare occasional moment of free time, I do enjoy woodworking and extensive remodeling of our new home with old wood.