UWGB Transformed Tyler by…

…welcoming him back home.

Although many UWGB students begin and end their college education as a Phoenix, countless UWGB alumni are transfer students who began their academic careers elsewhere. Tyler Gajewski is one of those transfer students, and he credits UWGB for refocusing his education and welcoming him back home.

“My first semester of college was at another university, and I hated it,” Tyler says. “I had a terrible rooming situation, it was an unfamiliar setting, and I was from a small town but was dropped into a place where I was basically a number instead of a person.”

Being a graduate Gajewski, Tyler 3of nearby Pulaski High School, Tyler decided it was best to come home, and UWGB welcomed him with open arms.

“It was a difficult time, but I decided to transfer to UWGB. It was fresh start, and one of the things I like telling people is that UWGB gave me more opportunities than I would have had staying where I was,” Tyler says.

Tyler explains that traveling to Italy for a studyabroad art program, being showcased in art shows at the Lawton Gallery, working at the Learning Technology Center, and becoming an Apple Campus representative were just a few of the opportunities that were awaiting him once he embraced UWGB. And the people he met exceeded his expectations.

“Several people provided a huge influence on me including Christine Style, Toni Damkoehler, Jeni Mokren, Frances Coates, Eric Lightbody, Andy Speth, Josh Goldman, and many others,” Tyler explains. “These people taught me to be a better student, better artist, better employee, and shaped who I am today.”

Now holding a job with the Green Bay Packers, Tyler insists he made the right choice, saying UWGB allowed him to “develop a foundation in education, arts, and people skills that translated into my career.”

Name: Tyler Gajewski
Grad Year: 2011
Major: Studio Art
Minor: Education

Photos submitted by: Tyler Gajewski

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.

UWGB Transformed Susan by…

…embracing interdisciplinarity to make the impossible possible.

UW-Green Bay is known for its many high-quality academic programs, but for Susan Frost, UWGB’s Adult Degree program proved to be life changing. “What I remember is the very personal involvement and support that the staff of the Adult Degree program provided,” Susan says. “This was a formula for success. It was comforting and encouraging, and it was powerful in retention and in motivation. The people involved changed my life.”

When Susan arrived on the UWGB campus, she was already a successful business woman and in fact, Susan brought her secretary along for the ride.

“We both earned degreeFrost, Susans,” Susan recalls, “and when I started, I came to get a piece of paper to nail to my office wall that said I was ‘certifiably smart.’ What I got was something far more important, much to my surprise.” Susan asserts that her UWGB experience provided her with a deeper understanding of how interdisciplinarity works in the marketplace, crucial to her future success in the business world. “This understanding allowed me to transform my business from an ordinary advertising agency to a marketing company that has survived the test of time, when others have fallen, because true marketing is based in the humanities and understanding the human condition,” Susan says.

Of course, Susan did not arrive at this conclusion on her own. She credits Bill Laatsch for “engaging me in topics I never thought I’d like and teaching me how to teach,” Fritz Fischbach who “taught problem solving and helped me define my life’s work and passion,” and Cheryl Grosso whose class “let me put my toe in the water and understand that I could earn a degree.” And not surprisingly, Susan gleaned insight from a truly eclectic, interdisciplinary group of UWGB educators. “As anyone can see, this is an interdisciplinary education,” Susan explains, “and this why I have donated to the university. I want other students to have this amazing experience.”

Embracing this sense of interdisciplinarity, Susan has engaged herself to make a lasting impact on her community. “I have a very comprehensive understanding of how the dynamics within a community play out, and it has given me a foundation to contribute to the community I love by serving on the Neville, the Brown County Historical Society, the Founders Association, and the Evergreen Productions Board in a way I never could have in the past,” Susan insists. “None of this would have happened without the transformative experience of the university which provided me with the tools needed to provide broad community education.”

Now working as an Associate Lecturer, Susan says that UWGB helped make the impossible possible.

“My UWGB experience not only assured me of my ‘smartness,’ but it also opened the door to obtaining a master’s degree at UW-Milwaukee, something I never imagined possible,” Susan explains. “For all of this, I am eternally grateful to this institution. I owe it to the professors who opened so many doors, a profound debt which I try to repay with every student I touch now as an Associate Lecturer: again, this is something I never imagined was possible.”

Name: Susan Frost
Grad Year: 1997
Major: Business, Communications, and Humanistic Studies

Photo submitted by: Susan Frost

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.

UWGB Transformed Angela by…

…helping her help others.

When Angela Bub started her freshman year at UWGB, she was undecided as to what to do with her life. But she found a sense of belonging in Zeta Omega Tau, the Sheepshead Review and Habitat for Humanity.

“By becoming connected with older students, I was able to become more engaged in school,” she said. “In doing so, I significantly raised my GPA and found my passions: helping others and writing.” Angela asserts that these organizations not only provided her with a purpose, they also transformed her into a well-rounded individual who thrived in the interdisciplinary setting that UWGB offered.

Angela credits Karen Bircher, Mike Stearney, and Rebecca Meacham as role models throughout her academic career, fueling her passion for helping others. Ultimately, Angela parlayed this inspiration into a career in education and now works as a therapist in a non-public school in Oakland, California, helping those in need. She is pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work, an accomplishment she never could have imagined without UWGB’s help.

“My UWGB experience transformed me and the foundation of my educational career. These organizations [Zeta Omega Tau, the Sheepshead Review, and the Humane Society] impacted me in countless ways and have shaped who I am as a person today,” Angela says.

Name: Angela Bub
Grad Year: 2012
Major: English
Minor: Secondary and Human Development

Photo submitted by: Angela Bub

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.

UWGB Transformed Paula by…

…influencing national medical policies through interdisciplinarity.

Before Paula J. Fleurant arrived on the UWGB campus, she had already lived an entire life.

“I graduated from Worcester City Hospital School of Nursing in Massachusetts in 1966 and was a Registered Nurse practicing in both Massachusetts and New Jersey before moving to Green Bay in 1970,” Paula begins. “My courses in nursing school were taught by university professors although the school offered a diploma and not a degree. It was similar to the way Bellin School of Nursing originally operated.”

Paula transferred credits to UW-Green Bay and entered as a second semester with junior standing. She was a non-traditional returning adult student, married with two small children and initially only taking one or two classes per semester. Previously, Paula’s nursing curriculum had been laid out for her, and she had no choice of classes or when to take them. However, the catalog at UW-Green Bay opened many new opportunities, and Paula insists that, “the interdisciplinary aspects of the programs were exciting and challenging.”

Like many non-traditional students, Paula felt immediately embraced by UWGB and its outstanding faculty.

“The university was welcoming to non-traditional students and those of us who were employed while attending school,” Paula says. “Faculty were accommodating and willing to work with you to ensure that your experience would be positive, that you would excel, and that you would graduate with abilities to succeed personally and professionally.”

As an undergraduate, Paula was a student of Dr. Ruth Hartley, known for her work and publications in Early Childhood Education. Hartley’s teaching provided a framework for a special project with Dr. Fergus Hughes on the development of a “Pediatric Play Program” for hospitalized children at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay where Paula worked as a Registered Nurse.

Of Dr. Hughes, Paula says, “He was a mentor, counselor and advocate for this program and helped me formalize a proposal to present to hospital administration to initiate such a service. My proposal was accepted with a grant for needed supplies, educational materials, and furnishings.”

Paula was a volunteer director of this program for several years and the program was recognized by physicians, nurses, and administrators as a valuable component of diversion and learning for the hospitalized child. The hospital continued with the program by hiring a Child Life Specialist, and still supports it to this day.

Later, while a UWGB graduate student, Paula worked at St. Vincent Hospital in the field of infectious diseases and developed the first formal program in infection control at the hospital, instituting policies and procedures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, GA, where Paula had the opportunity to study.

“My mentors during this phase of my education were Dr. Alice Goldsby, Dr. Jim Wiersma, and Dr. Lee Schwartz,” Paula explains. “The opportunity to work with these faculty members was invaluable for my work in the Infection Control Program that I continued to direct for thirteen years.”

And thanks to the flexibility in program design that the UWGB graduate school offered, Paula’s master’s program was modeled after a Masters in Public Health, including outbreak investigations and public health education.

“I began receiving requests to lecture in the community on such topics as Lyme disease, AIDS, and hepatitis B,” Paula asserts, “and one of those topics became my graduate thesis: ‘Hepatitis B in Healthcare…A Risk Analysis Approach to Determining Feasibility of a Vaccination Program.’’

Little did she know, but that thesis would lead Paula to influence national medical policy, namely at the Centers for Disease Control.

“I was able to combine school and work by conducting research in the hospital setting and although my thesis results — testing 202 employees at St.Vincent Hospital for possible inadvertent exposure to Hepatitis B through a needlestick — were not statistically significant, the administration decided, based on that sampling, to offer a vaccination program. One year later the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) mandated it nationally.”

Since her retirement, Paula has been a lecturer in the Learning in Retirement Program at UW-Green Bay, a community lecturer and a participant in health programs with the University Health Services, as well as completing a three-year term on the Alumni Association board as Vice-President, and member of the Executive Committee, Scholarships and Awards Committee, and Golf Outing Committee.

Ultimately, Paula admits that her UWGB experience — and its vital interdisciplinarity — was nothing short of transformative, both personally and in her community.

“My education at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay transformed me from a general staff nurse to a researcher, epidemiologist, educator, patient advocate and contributing member of numerous healthcare and community committees and boards,” Paula insists. “Classes such as public speaking, geography, and a myriad of developmental psychology courses molded me into a confident healthcare professional who has expanded her boundaries beyond the walls of the university and into the Greater Green Bay community. I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of individuals at the university and in the community, and I am proud to be an alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.”

Name: Paula J. Fleurant
Grad Year: 1975, 1986
Major: Growth & Development, Environmental Science & Policy

Photo submitted by: Paula Fleurant

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.

UWGB Transformed Natalie by…

…motivating her to be a marathoner, not a couch potato.

“Entering college, I was a scared and timid 18-year-old,” says Natalie Salkowski, “but I left a confident woman. Being involved as a Resident Assistant, at the Kress as a Fitness Instructor, and in the Professional Program in Education developed me into a strong young woman who could fearlessly face the world.”Amanda and friends post race

Helping her along the way were Chrisanna Coletta and Laura Vietmeyer, Natalie’s mentors and supervisors during her time as an RA and Fitness Instructor.  “Laura has inspired me to always reach for all of my dreams no matter how lofty. Chrisanna now lives further away, but I am still glad to call her a friend as well,” Natalie says. “She helped me so much to grow into myself and to be true to who I really am. Her advice and friendship helped me in more ways than I can explain.”

During her time as a Resident Assistant, Natalie recalls having “an amazing staff to work with every single year.” Whether it meant putting on programs or simply spending quality time with each other, Natalie says, “It was a ton of fun to relax every night after class and be ridiculous with a group of people who were only there to be kind and not to judge.”

As a lover of fitness and exercise, Natalie also discovered a love of running while at UWGB. “I would run in the arboretum after class as a stress reliever that grew into a new passion. This passion grew into members of the Kress staff inspiring me to run in the Green Bay 1/2 Marathon as a junior. Once I did, I was hooked. The day after I graduated in 2013, I ran in the Green Bay Full Marathon and did so last year as well. With the love and support of my UWGB family, I was transformed from a couch potato to a marathoner.”

Ultimately, it was this blend of academic and personal experience that allowed Natalie to flourish as a person. “I discovered through all of these activities my love of leadership, fitness, and learning. It has made me a better teacher at the school I work at, a better coach, and a good role model for all of my students,” Natalie says. “The people I have met at UWGB have surely shaped me into the person I am today and have made me a better person.”

Name: Natalie Salkowski
Grad Year: 2013
Major: Biology
Minor: Secondary Education

Photos submitted by: Natalie Salkowski

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.

UWGB Transformed Amanda and Marcus by…

…giving them the tools to give more than 2,000 animals a “happily ever after.”

In its 50-year history, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has been the home to countless siblings. Few siblings have accomplished as much with their UWGB education and contributed as much to the greater Green Bay area as dynamic brother-sister duo Marcus and Amanda Reitz.

From humble beginnings, the elder Marcus, says he was simply another face in the crowd in the early days of his UWGB education before discovering his path and flourishing.

“When I arrived at UW-Green Bay, I was in a similar position to many freshmen. I was undecided about what degree I would pursue,” Marcus says, “but once I learned of the Communication Processes degree with emphasis on Organizational Communication, I was intrigued,” Marcus explains.

Amanda found an almost  immediate educational fit with UWGB’s Phuture Phoenix program.

“I greatly loved and appreciated my opportunity to participate in UWGB’s Phuture Phoenix Program, which shows disadvantaged and underrepresented young people that post-secondary education is attainable,” Amanda says. “It was a chance to inspire young people within this community to follow their dreams and to always hold on tight to what they want to accomplish.”

However different their initial experiences, both Amanda and Marcus forged long-lasting relationships at UWGB that streamlined their educational careers. These relationships, Marcus says, made it very easy for him to become involved with the campus and the community despite being a commuter student, yet one relationship in particular was exceedingly memorable.

“Without question, I was most influenced by Professor Phil Clampitt,” Marcus begins. “As a student of Communication Processes with an emphasis in Organizational Communication, I spent the majority of my classroom hours in ‘Phil classes,’ which offered incredible opportunities for applied learning. Through everything I learned, it is Phil’s simple axioms that I come back to daily.”

For Amanda, her relationships with the UWGB Education, specifically with Professors Linda Tabers-Kwak and Scott Ashman, provided her with the direction she needed.

“They greatly impacted my time, life, and education while at UWGB,” Amanda asserts. “I was going to complete my degree in education, but I was going to be going down a little bit of a different path and starting a 501c3 organization. They continued to support me during this transition and transformation in my life.”

Amanda’s transformation was catalyzed by her volunteer experience at an animal shelter allowing her to connect her UWGB education to a critical community service.

“I wanted to help make change,” Amanda explains. “While I realized the importance of obtaining my education degree and had the support to do just that from my professors and fellow students, I needed to follow my heart. The community I was and still am a part of (UWGB and greater Green Bay) gave me the drive and support needed to pursue this dream.”

The dream that Amanda speaks of is her founding of “Happily Ever After,” a non-profit, “no-kill” animal sanctuary in 2006. It’s a passion and organization that she shares with her Marcus, and a bonding endeavor.

“Amanda and I have really grown as siblings through this venture, and Happily Ever After has seen tremendous growth and community commitment to their cause,” Marcus asserts. “HEA has adopted more than 2,200 animals into loving homes; spayed or neutered more than 2,000 animals through their low-cost spay and neuter programs; rehabilitated hundreds of companion animals that would have been destroyed in many other facilities; and educated our community on the importance of the no-kill philosophy.”

Marcus used his UWGB education to transition from college student to professional.

“I was pleasantly surprised as the success I experienced in the classroom translated into multiple job offers, and I was able to display immediate confidence in the work of my career following graduation,” Marcus says. “Once hired into my first opportunity, it did not take long for me to realize that nearly every business or organizational problem was a result of a communication breakdown.  This was exciting for me as I was immediately able to provide value to the organizations I worked for. My degree is used with tremendous regularity to enhance organizational, team, and team-member success by sharing what’s been shared with me. Not only have I transformed personally, but I’ve been able to transform others.”

Names: Amanda Reitz and Marcus Reitz
Grad Years: 2008 (Amanda) and 2003 (Marcus)
Amanda’s Major and Minor: Elementary Education and English
Marcus’ Major and Minor: Communication Processes and Business Administration

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.

 

UWGB Transformed Janet by…

…teaching her how to survive Pre-Med.

Janet Freedman began her academic career by attending a very competitive high school in New York City. She arrived in Green Bay when she was just 16. Her experience at UWGB calmed her, she said.

“Green Bay was nurturing, and UWGB was half the size of my high school: classes were small and professors’ offices were always open. Independent study was encouraged, design your own classes, major, et cetera. It was the days of Eco U,” Janet says.

After thoroughly enjoying the teaching and guidance of UWGB’s Thea Sager, Ron Starkey, and Charles Ihrke, Janet wanted to attend medical school and transferred to a University of California campus.

“Organic Chemistry was three hundred students in a lecture, the labs were locked except during your assigned lab time to prevent sabotage of the lab, and assigned readings were stolen out of the library: this was a common culture of premedical students,” Janet jokes. But halfway into her very first semester there, she realized it wasn’t for her and she dropped out.

“I moved back to Green Bay and enrolled again at UWGB,” Janet explains. “There were about four pre-med students and we studied together. Labs were open and available all day for us to do our work. Professors taught the labs. I would never have survived pre-med anywhere else.”

After her UWGB graduation, Janet found another niche at UW-Madison and is now a successful professional in the medical field, but UWGB seems to follow her wherever she goes.

“When I was in school in Madison, I would get together with friends from UWGB, and very quickly, our conversation would gravitate to UWGB memories. I still remember all of my Madison friends asking, ‘What is it with you UWGB people? It’s all you talk about!’”

Name: Janet Freedman
Grad Year: 1975
Major: Human Biology
Minor: Social Change and Development

Photo submitted by: Janet Freedman

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.

UWGB Transformed Ami by…

…helping her become more than she thought she could.

Creative Writing is Ami Irmen’s passion, yet her Creative Writing teachers at UWGB — Ryan Van Cleave, Bruce Stone, and Rebecca Meacham — taught her a set of critical lessons that have deeply affected her professional career.

When Ami first set foot on the grounds of the UWGB campus, she was a wide-eyed high school senior who was merely counting down the days to graduation. At first, Ami chose UWGB simply because it was “close enough” to home, and it was a place she could afford. However, UWGB proved to be much more than “tunnels, toilets, and trees,” and Ami asserts that UWGB “turned out to be the luckiest choice I have ever made. The four years that I spent at UWGB — a place that became more than just a great location and price tag, a place that became home — shaped who I am today.”

With her sights set on a career as a Creative Writing teacher, Ami vividly remembers her freshman year and Ryan Van Cleave’s “Introduction to Creative Writing” course, where Ami says Van Cleave “…loved his work and students so much that he took personal time out of his day for no other reason than to simply share that love of writing.” Flash forward to Bruce Stone’s Creative Writing workshop, a course that Ami says gave her a “safe space to take risks,” and she discovered that learning must be a two-way street. For example, Ami recalls a thank you letter penned by Stone, thanking his students for everything he’d learned throughout their time together. Undoubtedly, Ami learned that one must find the time and space to reflect upon one’s writing, a message later echoed by Rebecca Meacham, Ami’s English major advisor.

When it was time to declare her major, Ami says she still remembers the first time she met Prof. Meacham: “She had a real honest talk with me on that day about my prospects of finding a job as a Creative Writing instructor at the college level. The thing is, it was (and still is) an extremely competitive market, and this conversation was necessary. It is rare that advisors are so open and frank from the start, but Rebecca was.”

Prof. Meacham’s honesty never deterred Ami from her chosen path. The moment she committed to the degree, Ami says that Rebecca made the same commitment and did everything she could to ensure her success. Ami credits her professors for doing more than simply helping her dissect literature and learn to revise her work: they “fostered her love of learning and gave her the tools to ask questions, to explore, to ponder, to create, and much more.” Not surprisingly, Ami is now teaching writing at the college level, just as she always planned, asserting that her UWGB education informed what she does in her own classroom.

“It’s about more than just teaching a student how to write an essay,” Ami says, “it’s about giving people like me a chance to be more than what I thought I could be.”

Name: Ami Irmen
Grad Year: 2005
Major: Creative Writing and Human Development

Photo submitted by: Ami Irmen

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We’ve asked alumni to either share stories of how their lives were transformed by the UWGB  experience or how they are making the world a better place with transformational work in their careers, homes, or volunteer experiences. As UWGB celebrates its 50th Anniversary, meet an alum each week who has experienced a “UW-Green Bay Transformation.” Stories were self-submitted and then edited by Zachary Taylor, a 2010 English Education graduate currently serving as Interim Associate Director of the Phuture Phoenix program.