Archives for August 2020

Hi Everyone!

I’m Kathryn.  I have been a Penn State World Campus student since the Fall of 2018.  This is my last full semester and then after my final two courses in the Spring I will have my bachelor’s degree in Labor & Human Relations.  I live in the Lehigh Valley, PA with my husband of two years, where I have lived for most of my life.  I work full-time as an orthodontic assistant.  I enjoy anything coffee, outdoors, working out, and spending time with friends/family.  Best of luck to everyone.

Hi Class.

My name is Nancee Harrington and I’m an OLEAD major. This is one of my last four classes and I graduate in May so I’m very excited to be in the home stretch. The journey to my bachelor’s degree has been untraditional and long!  I started working towards an associate’s degree in 2005 when my son was two and I received an AS in Financial Services in 2011. Now, my son is 17 and a senior in high school and we will graduating at the same time (him high school, me college) so this is an exciting year for both of us.

What’s even more exciting is that my last four classes are on topics for my OLEAD degree so I’m really looking forward to all of them including this class.

 

So, with that said, best of luck to all of you during this semester and I look forward to chatting with as many of you as possible.

 

Best, Nancee

Hello,

My name is Teresa Stewart and this is my second semester taking classes through Penn State World Campus. I finished up an AAS degree in the spring and I am excited to add to the completion of my Bachelor’s degree. I am from and live in New York City. The pandemic has enlarged and shed a bright light on so many issues in my community. I am interested in learning more about the context of this course. I am looking forward to a successful semester.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Matt Wright and I currently live just outside Philadelphia on the Main Line with my wife and 2 daughter ages 4 and 7 months.  I am currently in my Jr year at PSU world campus and looking forward to the exciting times ahead.  I previously attended college back in the 90’s on a baseball scholarship to a Division 2 school but I never made it to the end due to some family issues that were going on.  That being said, I enrolled back in college in 2019 and 4 semesters later here I am.  I know that the Coronavirus is effecting people differently however I am taking this time and use it to my advantage to finish my degree and spend time with my growing kids. Once things become normal once again I feel as though I will be in a better position than I was back in March.

Other than spending time with my family, I am into golf, skiing and traveling to new places.  I am also a PIAA basketball referee in the Philadelphia area which at first was a hobby that has now turned into a second career.  I have learned from that job and my career in sales to take criticism and use that feedback to better myself.  Being yelled at by a coach that is something that you have to get used to very early on in my referee career.  But in high site,  its how you handle it that makes you stand out among the other coaches and peers.

I look forward to this the class and best of luck to all of my classmates.

Thanks,

Matt

Hello Everyone!

My name is Christina Spangler and I am currently reside near Baltimore, Maryland. There are a lot of things that have changed in my life recently, not just because of the COVID Pandemic.  I know that everyone has felt the pressures of this pandemic, and my heart goes out to everyone that has been put into very difficult situations.

Unfortunately, this is actually not my first time taking this class. I attempted to take it back in the Spring semester right before all of this started, but things got hectic very quickly. First, my daughter’s school had dismissed classes in person indefinitely and my husband and I had to come up for a solution for that while we were both still working. Then, we had received bad news about my mom. I had ended up taking the summer off from school because I decided I needed to focus on helping my mom, and now she is going through a bone marrow transplant.

To add on to my craziness, my husband has also decided to rejoin the military (I am a veteran of the active army and he is a national guard vet). So now I have that whirlwind going. After a lot of thought and consideration, my husband and I came to the conclusion that I needed some type of regulation in my daily curriculum so here I am!

I am currently in the Academic Program for Organizational Leadership and I am hoping to graduate at the conclusion of the summer semester next year. I know that there is a lot of things that we are all going to have to accomplish and I look forward to working with everyone in order to do the best we can! Best of luck this semester!

Hello class,

I am Monte Ellis, and I grew up in Wyoming but really, I cannot claim any state as my own as I have been in the U.S. Navy for 24 years now and have been stationed all throughout the United States.  My family and I were close to retiring until COVID-19 drastically changed our plans and we decided to stay in a few more years.

I have five children (three adult girls and two young boys) along with one granddaughter.

Professionally, I am at the top of the enlisted rank structure, so further advancement is not possible until I retire and change professions.

I am currently stationed at the Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, RI, but I am slated to transfer to California sometime in November or December. My family and I are very happy about these orders as they will get to enjoy the beautiful weather and hopefully the beaches.

This is my last semester before I graduate, and I will say that is has been a long and insightful journey.  My long-term goal is to retire from the military and start the next chapter of my life alongside my best friend and partner for life.  My wife is also attending PSU, although she is ahead of me in the Master of Professional Accounting program (she is incredibly smart).

I am truly looking forward to learning from you all and reading about your experiences. I have a considerable amount of leadership experience developed over the many years of military service, but I have little to no civilian experience.  I hope to learn from your experiences in the civilian workforce and how you have overcome challenges.

Lastly, my nerdy interest is space and related theories. My other interests are being outdoors, physical fitness, mountain biking, and lifting weights.

Have a great day,

Monte