Immerse yourself in a campus culture that's as eclectic as you are.
Kayla Boyd '20
Kayla Boyd continues to take on leadership roles on campus as a team leader in her entrepreneurship classes, the president of the Black Student Alliance, coordinator for Multicultural Weekend, and most recently as an instructor for Kayla’s Bootcamp, a high-intensity interval training fitness class offered through the Potsdam intramurals program. She will be graduating this May with a double major in business administration and creative writing.
Set high in the Rocky Mountains, Banff, Alberta, is known for its world-class skiing and prestigious film festival. But for Kelley DiPasquale, a non-traditional student in the music business program at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, it was something else entirely that drew her to the snowy mountain town. DiPasquale is in the middle of a six-month-long audio recording internship at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The hands-on practicum has allowed her to oversee professional audio recordings for bands like the Rapidgrass, a Colorado-based bluegrass quintet, and work with jazz drummer Jerry Granelli, best known for recording the “Charlie Brown Christmas” album with the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
Nicole Weed ’20, a senior in the Department of Anthropology, is currently working on a Presidential Scholars project looking at how technology has affected language and communication over time. With opportunities to work as a research assistant for Dr. Lydia Rodriguez and as an intern for Dr. Faris Khan, the culmination of her experiences has been paving the way for graduate school and a successful career as a linguistic anthropologist.
Now a junior at SUNY Potsdam, Brianna Polite ’21 has continued to develop confidence and leadership skills as a dancer and choreographer in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Once introverted, she’s now taking the lead as the co-captain of Team Envy (the hip-hop club on campus), and as a choreographer for her own dance composition, “Progression,” which was recently staged during the Student Choreographers’ Concert.
In four years, alumna Laura Wessing graduated summa cum laude with a double major in computer science and mathematics, as well as getting a master’s degree in math through the BA / MA program. In that time, she completed three internships, two of which were with the U.S. Air Force. Now she leads the quantum algorithms team at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y.—overseeing complex research on quantum bits.
It’s never too late to go back to school. Just ask Tabitha Brown who is back in college after a 25-year hiatus. After raising a family and homeschooling her children, she decided it was time to complete her bachelor’s degree—starting the same year her daughter went off to college. Brown is now excelling as a non-traditional student in SUNY Potsdam’s Department of History where she has been delving into local history projects to explore Northern New York’s past.
Led by Dr. Joshua Miller—the new director for the Crane Opera Ensemble at The Crane School of Music—students recently staged Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s comic opera “Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)” at Sara M. Snell Music Theater from Nov. 8 to 9, 2019. Join us for a visual tour of the rehearsals leading up to the performances.
Professor Kathleen O’Rourke recently brought her First Year Success Seminar to the WISER Greenhouse for a unique opportunity—yoga in the greenhouse! With the aeroponic Tower Gardens pushed to the side, yoga mats were unfurled to fit more than 20 students in the greenhouse as Isabelle Bailey ’23, a first-year student in the SIIM program, led the class.
For first-year students, there’s no better opportunity than the Environmental Studies Adirondack Experience. The unique program allows students to work with Dr. Glenn Johnson, Dr. Donald McNutt and Dr. Katherine Cleary as they focus on three disciplines (English, ecology and biology), set against the backdrop of the Adirondack Mountains. View a day in the life of our students exploring the Spring Pond Bog Preserve and the Wild Center in Tupper Lake as part of the Adirondack Experience.
Hard work and networking have paid dividends for computer science major Eric Zair ’20. A brief encounter with alumnus Garry Griggs ’17 last spring paved the way for a paid internship over the summer at Assured Information Security, a cybersecurity contracting company in Rome, N.Y. That internship gave him real-world experience and allowed him to take what he had learned in the classroom and apply it in a professional setting. Now he’s back on campus completing the coursework for his degree and mentoring younger students in the computer science program. With commencement just around the corner, his sights are set on a future career in the field of cybersecurity.
Paul Dougall ’20 is a true Renaissance man. Now in his last year at SUNY Potsdam, he is completing not only a degree in music business, but two separate degrees in mathematics as part of the Department of Mathematics’ BA / MA program—a unique opportunity for highly motivated students to graduate with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics at the same time. Over the summer he landed an internship at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center where he was able to incorporate all of those disciplines.
Back when she was still a sophomore at SUNY Potsdam, alumna Rebecca Scholldorf ’15, a clarinet performance major at the Crane School of Music, decided to pursue a second degree in music business. It proved to be one of the best decisions of her life. After completing the required internship for her music business degree her senior year, she was immediately offered a job by that same company, DANSR, Inc., the exclusive distributor of Vandoren reeds, mouthpieces and accessories.
Scott Elliott ’21 has always wanted to be a teacher. After spending nearly 22 years as a musician in the U.S. Army, he’s turning that dream into a reality, as he pursues his master’s degree from SUNY Potsdam in childhood education, studying in Watertown. For more than two decades, he traveled the world playing his saxophone and clarinet to improve relations with other countries and support the troops. Now retired, his real-world experience will bolster his efforts in the classroom, as he follows his path to becoming a teacher.
Jeffrey Schulz '20, who is majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry, keeps very busy balancing his academic life with a leadership role on the men’s soccer team. He has been on the SUNYAC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll and President's list three times and was awarded Coaches' MVP and Players' Player of the Year. Join us for a look back at a day in the life of Schulz.
Morgan Sychtysz ’20 completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in visual arts in just three years. After first appearing in the annual Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition at the Gibson Gallery last spring, her “fruit basket” oil paintings were then accepted into the SUNY Art at the Rockefeller Institute exhibition—a year-long art show depicting some of the best art from faculty and students within the SUNY system. Sychtysz is now focused on completing her certificate in art education, with the ultimate goal of being a K-12 art teacher when she graduates next spring.
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.
