Immerse yourself in a campus culture that's as eclectic as you are.
Ivy Huber ’19
After walking across the stage at Commencement in May, Ivy Huber ’19, a double major in middle/secondary English education and literature/writing, spent the summer teaching English to children in Italy. Now she’s back home to start her career as a sixth grade English teacher at Waterloo Middle School after successfully completing SUNY Potsdam’s teacher education program and two student teaching placements in St. Lawrence County.
SUNY Potsdam alumna Mary Catherine Sawyer ’19 landed her first job just months after graduating from SUNY Potsdam this year. With degrees in music education and theatre education—and extensive student teaching experiences as an undergraduate—she’s well prepared for her new career as a music teacher in the Bronx, N.Y.
Amber Rudolph ’20 wrapped up her junior year with a trip to Cloughjordan, Ireland, as part of a sociology travel course with Dr. Heather Sullivan-Catlin. Now she’s back at SUNY Potsdam for her senior year where she’s taking on a leadership role as the new vice president of the Student Government Association. She is also completing two internships: one focused on launching a sustainability initiative on campus with Sullivan-Catlin, and another with Ray Bowdish in the WISER Greenhouse.
When he’s not carving through the fresh powder at Alpine Meadows in Lake Tahoe, Mike Rogge ’08 leads a successful career as the editor The Ski Journal and the founder/owner of the media production company, Verb Cabin. Since graduating with his degree in writing and literature from SUNY Potsdam over a decade ago, Rogge has turned his dream into a reality—skiing as many days as possible and writing about it professionally.
Dr. Jessica Rogers, an assistant professor of environmental studies at SUNY Potsdam, brings global applied learning experiences into her classroom every day. Whether she’s teaching introduction to environmental studies, Geographic Information Systems, or conducting research on the purple loosestrife—her passion for teaching and environmental conservation is at the heart of everything that she does.
From June 24 to July 19, SUNY Potsdam Professor Dr. Hadley Kruczek-Aaron led an archaeology field school for 12 of her students at Camp Union in Potsdam—a Civil War training ground once used by soldiers preparing for battle. Students spent four weeks unearthing layers of dirt, digging excavation units, using sifter screens and bagging artifacts. The Meadow East Apartment Complex property in Potsdam became the students’ outdoor classroom for a month as they searched for historic remnants from the Camp Union occupation.
Kalis Nunes ’20 has been on a trajectory of success ever since he first set foot on campus his freshman year. After entering SUNY Potsdam through the Bridges Program, he went on to work as a resident assistant, a tutor for TRiO, a coordinator for Multicultural Weekend, on top of being the president/captain of the Bear Witness Step Team. Now he is taking on his most significant leadership role yet, as the next president of the Student Government Association.
Alanna Pinard-Brace ’19 & ’20 is one of the newest faces in the graduate program in music education at the Crane School of Music—an expedited one-year master’s degree available to Crane graduates. She recently returned from Peru where she was learning about Andean music and hiking the Salkantay and Inca trails to Machu Picchu as part of an international travel course.
Brian Dougherty ’06 landed his first job in the music industry immediately after graduation. What started as an internship for Samson Technologies his junior year, parlayed into a full-time position that started nine days after commencement. Now he works for Sennheiser—one of the leading music industry companies in the world.
During his first three years at SUNY Potsdam, Amiere Bell ’20, a theatre major with minors in dance and speech communication, has grown both academically and artistically. He has choreographed dances, played the lead role in “Wiley and the Hairy Man,” and landed on the President’s List the last two semesters.
Brooke Falsion ’19 is a record setter. During her time at SUNY Potsdam, she became the first All-American in the history of the SUNY Potsdam women’s soccer program. She was also the SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Year during her senior year, while setting several new SUNY Potsdam women’s soccer records, including being the all-time leading scorer with 46 career goals. Academically, she was just as impressive—recently graduating summa cum laude with a degree in exercise science.
Crane Students Embark on Epic Journey Through Peru
From May 19 to 31, a group of 16 current and former Crane students traveled to South America for an epic journey through the Andes in Peru with Dr. Jeffrey Francom, an associate professor and coordinator of the choral area at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. They started by learning traditional Andean music at a cultural center in Calca, Peru, before setting out for a seven-day backpacking trip along the Salkantay and Inca Trails.
As another academic year comes to a close, we take a look back at some of our outstanding graduating seniors—their stories of success, the professors who have impacted their lives and the challenges they faced along the way. Congratulations to the Class of 2019!
Like all music education students at The Crane School of Music, Erica Ylitalo spent her last semester at SUNY Potsdam as a student teacher in both a middle school and high school in Central New York—leading everything from band rehearsals and band lessons, to music theory classes.
Finding a job after graduation is always the ultimate goal, and for Jillian Dolder, that came to fruition literally two days after Commencement. She received her diploma on a Saturday and found herself standing in front of a group of high school students on Monday morning.
During her last semester at SUNY Potsdam, community health major Isata Tarawally landed an internship with the American Red Cross in New York City. As part of the amazing hands-on experience, she has been traveling all over the city to speak with children about disaster preparedness. The opportunity led to a job with the American Red Cross after graduation—a position that will allow her to continue her philanthropic work as part of an Americorps program.
SUNY Potsdam alumnus John Alleyne ’14 has found great success since graduating with a BFA in studio art five years ago. He went on to work at the Museum of Modern Art, received his master’s degree from Louisiana State University and now works as an artist and adjunct professor at three universities in and around Baton Rouge.
Adjusting to a new country and culture is always challenging, but Zerrouk Bessa ’20, who worked as a financial auditor in Algeria for more than a decade, found the support and guidance that he needed in SUNY Potsdam’s management program—one of the newest academic offerings on campus.
Assistant Professor Dr. Faris Khan has spearheaded a number of projects at SUNY Potsdam since he started teaching here in the fall of 2017. Last semester he launched a new digital anthropology studio, started a digital anthropology internship and he created the inaugural anthropology film festival. His implementation of digital technologies, in and out of the classroom, is driven by an effort to make anthropology more accessible to the public.
