I am from South Williamsport, Pa., where the Little League World Series Baseball championship is played each year. I played little league and enjoyed other sports as well. After graduating from high school, I went in the military and served 20 years. I have travelled all over the world. Some of the interesting places that I have seen are the Kentucky Derby, bullfights in Barcelona, skiing the Swiss Alps, I have seen the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre in Paris, and rappelled from cliffs in the orient, just to name a few places that I have travelled to. I was in Germany when the Berlin wall came down. I have run a half marathon and two full 26.2-mile marathons with respectable times. I taught at two leadership schools while in the military. 

I was afforded the opportunity and decided to go back to school to not only further my education, but to be a mentor to my kiddos. I have three children (Jessica, Katy and Tommy) and one grandson, Kristopher. Fun fact, my daughter and I graduated together at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in the same ceremony after the Spring 2016 semester, plus we are extras in a little league baseball Disney movie “Mickey” with Harry Connick Jr. I graduated from UCCS with my undergraduate degree in Communication with an emphasis in Leadership, as well as a master’s in communication. I have been a student employee at UCCS and what is now the Excel Multiliteracy Center and have encouraged fellow students to work at UCCS as student employees. Some of my students have worked in the Multiliteracy Center. I am a co-editor for one of our COMM 2100 Public Speaking textbooks. I completed a Homeland Security Certification and a Nonprofit Management Graduate Certificate as well from Public Affairs at UCCS.  I have also helped for a few years with Compass Curriculum to check on assessments of capstone projects across the UCCS campus. My capstone project in my masters was titled, “Veterans Transitioning to Society”. Helping veterans and non-veterans is something that I am passionate about as well.

I have been a lecturer from 2017 through to the present with UCCS. Since then, I am also an instructor at Pikes Peak State College. I am also teaching concurrent enrollment at various high schools in Colorado Springs. Who would have thought that I would be able to relate to today’s generation of high school students. When you find something that you are passionate about, the sky is the limit. Student engagement and student success is something that we all should strive for in higher education. Go Mountain Lions!