Graduate Profiles
Math whiz has inside look at New York Lottery
Rebecca Gregory, RSC Valedictorian
U.S. Army provides OT grad with fast track to treating soldiers
Kirsten Wieczorek, RSC/SGS
Fitness nut willing to wait for dream job as PE teacher
Joshua Speziale, SCA
Husband and wife students balance work, family and school
Mary & Scott Stalker, SAW
Sage inspires green leaders of tomorrow
Sara Shapleigh, RSC
Graduate wants to bring joy of dance to underprivileged kids
Phyillicia Bishop, RSC
Rebecca Gregory
Russell Sage College Valedictorian
Major: Mathematics
Hometown: Hudson, NY
Math whiz has inside look at New York Lottery
For an honors class at Sage, Becky compared the New York Mets and New York Yankees scoring patterns in the 2008 regular season to the average major league baseball team. The study was featured in an article in the Times Union on March 13th and she presented her research at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at the University of Wisconsin in April.
Outside Sage, Becky is an intern at the New York Lottery, updating spreadsheets, analyzing data to determine if promotions are successful, and formatting reports. She also tutors middle and high school students in math.
Becky has been a member of the softball team for three years at Sage (she is graduating a year early because of the college credits she earned in high school). Next year, she will attend Sage Graduate School to earn her masters degree in teaching: she wants to become a high school mathematics teacher.
Becky plans to wrap her Valedictorian speech with a quote from Archimedes: "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." She adds, "Although we may not be able to physically move the world, I encourage everyone here today to make a difference in the lives of the people around you and in doing so, the world will be moved."
Kirsten (Kroll) Wieczorek
Sage Graduate School
Major: Occupational Therapy
Hometown: Portland, ME
U.S. Army provides OT grad with fast track to treating soldiers
Kirsten majored in International Studies as an undergraduate at Russell Sage College. She acquired her interest in different cultures and languages in high school, where more than 26 languages were spoken (Portland has a significant immigrant population). But she also worked as a rehab aid in a rehab hospital during high school, and decided to become an occupational therapist preferably a travelling one. Having grown up in a military family (both her parents were in the Navy, and her uncle and grandfather were in the Army), she decided that she too wanted to serve communities and our country. So she enrolled in the Army ROTC program, which would make her dream of becoming a traveling occupational therapist a reality.
"When I first started ROTC, learning to balance my time between school and the physical and academic requirements for ROTC was a bit of a challenge. We trained 4-5 times a week and usually on the weekend. My professors at Sage were always flexible and understanding. They would not even make a face when I showed up to an 8 a.m. class sweaty and in my physical training uniform after working out with the battalion."
The ROTC program is designed to teach cadets how to be leaders, and become officers. Training includes land navigation, water confidence courses, qualifying on an M16, rappelling, and typical battle drill tactics (raid, ambush, attack). But more importantly, ROTC gave Kirsten the opportunity to complete four OT internships at military hospitals: first at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, then at a retreat for soldiers who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, then two internships at Fort Drum in Watertown, NY. She also spent last summer in Alaska at an Army hospital performing orthopedic surgery.
Upon graduating and commissioning, Kirsten is going to Fort Sam Huston in San Antonio, TX for more military training. Then she returns to Fort Drum to begin her career as an occupational therapist in the Army. She has been assigned to the Wounded Warrior Transition Unit (WTU), an exciting new area for the military. WTUs are for individuals who have been injured during a training event or in combat. The purpose is to help the soldier rehabilitate so that they can return to their military job or transition into the civilian sector (depending on the severity of their medical injury or condition).
Kirsten's husband, a captain in the Army, is also stationed at Fort Drum, though he is currently deployed to Afghanistan. When he returns and they both finish their two-year commitment at Fort Drum, they hope to be stationed in Alaska, Hawaii, or Germany.
"I am very proud of what I have accomplished in my six years at Sage and with ROTC," Kirsten says, who will graduate with a 4.0 GPA and her master's degree in Occupational Therapy. "The route I chose was definitely not an easy one, but certainly the most rewarding in my eyes. Our ROTC instructors always said, "Never take the easy right, always take the hard left."
Joshua Speziale
Sage College of Albany Co-Salutatorian
Major: Physical Education
Hometown: Ballston Spa, NY
Fitness nut willing to wait for dream job as PE teacher
Joshua, 24, is a self-described fitness and wellness nut. He works out regularly at Planet Fitness, but prefers a good mix of strength training and cardio to weight lifting. He loves outdoor activities, including fishing and golf.
He got married in 2007, and says it has been a challenge to balance school with work and family. He works part-time at Pioneer Bank training new part-time employees, and his wife works full-time at Capital Bank.
A graduate of Ballston Spa High School, where he played basketball, he attended Hudson Valley Community College for his A.A. in Physical Education Studies before coming to Sage to finish his bachelor's. He plans to continue on at Sage Graduate School this fall for his master's in Community Health Education.
He is realistic about the job prospects for Physical Education teachers, and says patience is the key. "There are more candidates than there are openings in this area. It's a difficult market." PE teacher candidates typically have to substitute for a few years, make contacts and work their way into a district, and wait for teachers to retire. "It's slow, I have to be patient, but this is the career I want to have for the rest of my life."
Mary + Scott Stalker
Sage After Work
Major: Social Studies (Mary), Computer Information Systems (Scott)
Hometown: Waterford, NY
Husband and wife students balance work, family and school
Mary and Scott Stalker both worked full-time jobs (he works for New York State, she runs a day care out of the home and coordinates the Waterford Harbor Farmers Market), raised two young children and earned degrees on a full-time basis through the Sage After Work program at Sage College of Albany.
"There's a lot of flexibility at Sage," Mary said. "All of the professors are understanding and willing to work with you, and the staff is so personable and helpful."
While at home with her children, Mary registered as a day care provider through New York state, and cares for eight children plus her own, now ages 5 and 6. She wants to teach, so she went back to school, first to Hudson Valley Community College for an associate degree, then Sage, where she majored in Social Studies and earned a 4.0 GPA. She plans to continue on for her master's in education.
Scott, a database developer for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, majored in Computer Information Systems. He wants to teach at the college level, and is debating whether to next pursue a Ph.D. in Informatics or a law degree.
The Stalkers suspect their children will miss class nights, because they got to watch a movie on a school night, but Scott and Mary are looking forward to have their children see them both receive their bachelor's degrees at Commencement.
Sara Shapleigh
Russell Sage College
Majors: International Studies, Spanish
Hometown: Dryden, NY
Sage inspires green leaders of tomorrow
Sara grew up spending the school year in Dryden, central New York, and her summers in rural Georgia, near the Appalachian Mountains. She is interested in rural sustainable agriculture and community planning and development. While at Sage, she double-majored in International Studies and Spanish and minored in Environmental Science, and traveled to Honduras to do service work with Las Sonrisas de Los Ninos, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of the rural community. She is also the coordinator of the Sage Climate Crisis Center led by professor Steven Leibo, the regional arm of Al Gore's internationally known Climate Project. She says that promoting environmental education and community activism is the responsibility of her generation. "We are the ones who are going to be running the nation soon, and we will need to work with even more limited resources than the previous generation had." Check out her Sage Climate Crisis Center blog at http://blogs.sage.edu/climate/.
Phyillicia Bishop
Russell Sage College
Major: Communications
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Russell Sage shining star wants to bring joy of dance to underprivileged kids
- Danced with M.C. Hammer.
- Dreams of opening an arts center for underprivileged children.
- Stays on her toes with broadcasting.
Phyillicia majored in Communications and minored in Dance at Russell Sage. She is plotting her next step after graduation to get her one step closer to her dream of opening an arts center in Brooklyn to provide dance opportunities for underprivileged kids.
