Blue Jay Journeys: Recent Episodes
The School of Arts and Humanities
Exploring journeys of Blue Jay alums, students, and professors at Elizabethtown College. Hosted by the School of Arts and Humanities Digital Humanities Hub.
Anna Sarneso is a 2008 Elizabethtown College graduate. She currently works as a library directory at Lasell University. Anna speaks about how working as a library director allows help to help build respectful communities and be a part of one. She is able to work with students and stay behind the scenes, the best of both worlds!
Dante Weikel is a 2016 Elizabethwotn College graduate. He currently works as a praticing artist and as an adjunct professor at Etown. Together these allow him to explore, create and teach. Dante enjoys mixing analog art and digital design to create art in the modern world.
Rebecca Easton is a 2019 Elizabethtown College Graduate. She currently works at Cargis Systems as a digital marketing strategist. Rebecca creates content internally for Cargis to help market software. She speaks about how Etown helped her discover her passion for marketing. Rebecca also speaks about how unifying individuals and marking sure everyone's needs are met is a big part of her job.
Gwen Fries was a 2016 graduate from Elizabethton College with a focus on history and communications. Gwen now works as an editor for the Adam’s Paper Editorial project for the Massachusetts Historical Society. She works collaboratively with a team as well as alone and speaks about the freedom she has and how Etown helped prepared her through extracurriculars.
Kory Hilpmann, a 2017 Elizabethtown College grad, now works as a freelance film composer and piano teacher. Kory composers music for podcasts, short films and videos as well as teaches piano to all ages. Kory enjoys creating his own schedule and speaks about he educates for service every day.
View Kory’s website here: https://www.koryhilpmannmusic.com/
Melissa Spencer is a 2019 Elizabethtown College graduate who is now a human research analyst at the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Melissa has a background in professional writing, mathematics, and data analytics. Megan speaks about how she has continued to learn more about her role every day as technology is ever-changing.
Megan White is a 2020 Elizabethtown College graduate who now works as an assistant acquisitions editor at Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group. She studies professional writing, graphic design, and creative writing. Megan speaks about working in Academic Book Publishing and the job search she went through to accomplish this goal.
Marissa Aulenbach has worked for Penn State Health since 2016. She specializes in pediatric intensive care and intermediate care, specifically with cardiac surgery patients and tracheostomy and ventilator-dependent patients. She participates in research exploring use of song stories for children undergoing outpatient procedures. She also assists with Music Therapy internship programs at Penn State Health and as a Practicum Supervisor for Music Therapy students at Elizabethtown College. Previous experience includes working in inpatient addictions treatment and as an independent contractor for Music Therapy services.
Sarah McCarron graduated from Etown in 2017 with a double major in Japanese and Biochemistry. She has since received her Masters in Biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 and moved to Boston, MA to start her career at Vertex pharmaceuticals, in Cell and Gene Therapies. This episode explores the power of well-rounded studies in a liberal arts environment, the hands-on experience of our biology and chemistry programs, and the influence of prominent mentors, including Dr. Hagan.
Melissa Germano is a 2019 Elizabethtown College graduate who studied Spanish Education. Melissa describes her time at Etown, her growth in the Spanish program and her path to earn a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship as an English Teaching Assistant in Spain. Melissa states that the personalized attention and mentoring that she received from faculty and the opportunities of the peer mentor program have contributed to the extension of her time in the Fulbright program as a mentor to other Fulbright recipients.
Skye McDonald talks about her journey into a career of professional writing for a pharmaceutical company. She talks about journeys of service and the unique demands of writing in the pharmaceutical industry.