Alumni Spotlight: March 2016
Tell us what led you to Maria College.
I was working in healthcare as an Allied Health Technician supervising the IV Therapy Team at Albany Medical Center. I had a BA and MA in Psychology with almost as many credits in Biology and I loved working in healthcare, but I knew if I wanted to advance my career, I needed to become a nurse. At the time, there was no concept of allowing people to bring in credits toward a BS in Nursing. I went to the area colleges that offered a BS in Nursing and I was told I would have to “quit your job and go back to school full time.” Since I earned half of the household income and we had a mortgage that was simply not an option! Maria College welcomed me, accepted many of my credits and asked me to teach anatomy and physiology. I was thrilled!
What do you remember most vividly about your time at Maria College?
The incredible kindness of the sisters and faculty. I’m Jewish, so I was surprised and delighted by how welcomed I felt.
Did you have a favorite teacher/professor?
Father Nick!! I took Comparative Religion with him. Subsequently, my husband and I spent many fine dinners together talking about religion, spirituality, and life. A fabulous educator and person.
How did Maria prepare you for your next steps?
Maria gave me the confidence to leave my clinical position and move to a research position. I knew I could make a change in how nurses were treated and I did with the research I worked on for the State of New York. If you look at my bio, you will see, I’ve always worked and gone to school. Maria gave me the confidence to keep doing that and do it well.
What would you consided your greatest professional accomplishment?
My internationally best-selling textbook, Introduction to Health Care Management (with Nancy H. Shanks) now in press for the third edition. I was told by a number of nay-sayers that it would never get published, but thanks to my stubborn persistence and my husband’s excellent advice, I found the best home for it with Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Tell us about any hobbies or interests.
After working in health care delivery for years, that itch to write (some call it an obsession) kept beckoning me to “come on back” to writing fiction. Thanks to the kindness of family, friends, critique partners, and beta readers, I’m published in many different genres including romance, suspense and textbooks! When not attempting to make students, colleagues, and babies laugh, I can be found herding cats, walking my dogs, fishing, cooking, dining, and laughing with family and friends, or writing. Please click here to let me know if you would like to know more about my “alter ego”.
What piece of advice would you give current Maria students?
Use your faculty as resources, the same advice I give to my students now. They are there to help you, otherwise, they wouldn’t be teachers. Enjoy your time there. It is very special.
