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`Q: How long have you worked at Millersville University?
A: I began teaching for the Spring 2000 semester. (My first day was a blizzard and midway through the day the school was closed and I had to get a room at the former motel right behind SMC.)
Q: Have you taught anywhere else?
A: I taught Introduction to theatre for a year at Messiah College
Q: What got you interested in communication?
A: I majored in speech communication and theatre at Mansfield University, as my undergrad degree. I figured it would be beneficial for the career I was going into after college.
My Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, prepared me for being an ordained parish minister, from which I retired after 25 years of service.
One of the key responsibilities connected with the profession….is communication.
No matter what name you call it: speaking, preaching or talking, the communication of information has always been a part of my life. My Doctorate in Religious Drama, as emerging from the Medieval Mass combined my two passions: drama/proclamation and theology.
For several years I was the resource person for helping pastors who need help with their ‘preaching.’
Q: What is one thing you could never leave the house without?
A:?If for the car: 3 things: I love caffeine beverages, a bottle of water and a CD to play in the car. Otherwise…a bottle of water.
Q: What was your “dream job” growing up?
A: Appearing on the professional stage. That was after being an astronaut, which went out the window when I got glasses in fifth grade and found out you had to have perfect vision to ‘blast into space!
Q: You teach a speech class: What would you say to a student who is petrified of speaking in public?
A:?I would want to work with the student to narrow the scope of their fear by finding out what specific element of the speaking process caused the strong reaction.
What I would tell them is: they have something important to say, and the public wants them to succeed. Don’t allow the audience to change their minds. So prepare, organize, and practice.
Q: What was the most interesting and memorable topic a student has given a speech on?
A:?The most memorable, was a student who gave a speech on Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and after describing the disease, and the effects on the person and family, retold the opening story of a typical day in the life of a man with the disease, and ended with the last line: “and I call him dad!”
I can’t recall any particular speech which could be classified as ‘most interesting.’
I am always pleasantly surprised with both the variety of topics submitted by the students, as well as the research and sources they use in their speech.
Q: The old saying goes, “you learn something new every day”; what did you learn today?
A: The new element of each day for me is the opportunity to re-start the day at anytime. When I do that, the next 24 hours, not the television show, becomes the new day.
What becomes new, is looking at what is causing me to start my day over and changing something so there is a new result. Another old saying goes: ‘If nothing changes, nothing changes.’ That is true for anyone, including the petrified student.