Month: January 2024

Major Decisions

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By JoLayne Green, Contributing writer, Penn State Behrend

Graduate found confidence, voice when she landed in the right program for her

When Gabi Watson switched her major to English at Penn State Behrend, she finally found her path—and her voice. It just took a little courage for her to follow a passion that was there all along.

“I did every other possible major,” Watson said, with a chuckle.

An Erie native who graduated last semester, Watson started in Forensic Biology at University Park. She learned that a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field wasn’t truly what she wanted. Her college journey led her to Behrend and included stops in the Division of Undergraduate Studies and the Political Science program.

“I finally realized I belonged in liberal arts,” she said. “I fell in love with the English program and the teachers in it.”

She also felt at home at Behrend.

“I love how close-knit the campus is and how beautiful Behrend is,” she said. “I got all four seasons here in my hometown where I got a great education and had a close relationship with teachers.”

Before landing in the English department, Watson did a little soul searching.

“I grew up reading. I knew I loved English, but I didn’t know if I loved literature,” she said. “I thought choosing English would mean I would just be reading a lot of poetry.”

Then Watson discovered how diverse a degree in English is.

“I didn’t know how many options there were in writing. I felt I was floating around in the English department until I took Writing for the Web,” she said. “I found out you can have a great career in something you are passionate about.”

While she concentrated on professional writing, it was creative writing classes that helped her find her own voice.

“I learned a lot about expressing emotion and how to transcribe my thoughts into words,” she said.

Watson’s budding confidence carried into extracurricular activities. Describing herself as an introvert, she was a junior before becoming involved in activities at Behrend such as the Lion Entertainment Board and an Alternative Spring Break service trip.

She grew from observer to participant to executive director of the Lion Entertainment Board, helping to advance the club from four members to more than thirty while developing event planning skills.

Watson credits her advisor, Dr. Massimo Verzella, associate professor of English, as well staff members in the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI) with putting her on a path to success.

“Dr. Verzella changed the trajectory of what I wanted to do in my life,” she said. “He educated me on possibilities I didn’t know existed. I don’t think I’d be as social or as well-rounded as I am now without his support and that of SLI staff members.”

In turn, she began mentoring other students.

“I learned I like leading a team and helping people find their passion, and wanted to help other students figure out what they were good at,” she said.

Watson’s success in leadership was recognized beyond campus when she was chosen to receive the 2023 ATHENA Young Professional Award, celebrating emerging women leaders in Erie.

Watson, who graduated in December 2023, envisions a career that involves writing, generating social media content, travel, event planning, and possibly work in diversity, equity, and inclusion. First, she is going to Walt Disney World for a six-month stint in the Disney College Program in Florida.

After that? Who knows, but she knows she won’t be a silent observer.

“You can be an introvert and still be a leader,” she said. “I never thought I could, but with the right support, I’ve been able to find my voice in writing and in leadership. Wherever I end up next, I know Behrend has given me a solid foundation to build on.”

Captured History

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Former math professor’s hobby produced one of Behrend’s greatest gifts

By Heather Cass, Publications Manager, Penn State Behrend

B.p. single

Though he taught generations of college students during his thirty-seven years as a mathematics professor at Behrend, Norman B. “Bill” Patterson, above, established a legacy that goes far beyond linear algebra, differential equations, and statistics. When he retired in 1990, he left a trove of photos documenting life at Behrend with intimacy and affection.

The camera he used to record much of it–a $129 model he saved all year to buy from Erie’s Boston Store in 1954–is in the archives at Lilley Library along with hundreds of his photos, a true gift to the college.

“If a picture paints a thousand words, Bill’s photos are surely the most expensive materials in the Behrend Archives,” said Jane Ingold, reference and instruction librarian and archivist at Behrend. “My ability to answer the many calls for photos for anniversary exhibits and stories like this one would be severely limited without them.”

In honor of Behrend’s 75th anniversary, a sampling of Patterson’s work is on exhibit in Kochel Center. “Behrend Begins: The Campus Photography of Norman B. Patterson” highlights some of his most evocative photos from the 1950s through the early 1970s.

The exhibit provides a fascinating look into the past, offering a visual record of how Behrend has grown and changed over time.

Signs

At 98 years old, Patterson, who resides in an Erie area senior facility, is happy to talk about photography and Behrend with visitors. When asked what type of camera he liked to shoot with, he quipped, “anything I could get ahold of,” adding, “Some things you are just interested in from Day One and I liked taking pictures.”

Patterson’s introduction to photography was in 1938 when his older brother brought a camera, and he became immediately fascinated with it. Much happened for Patterson in the next 15 years, including receiving an undergraduate degree in chemistry, serving a stint in the Army in World War II, and returning to graduate school to earn a mathematics degree courtesy of the GI Bill.

When he was offered a mathematics teaching position at the five-year-old Behrend Center in Erie, a place he had never been, he took the job.  “I said, ‘Well, I have nothing in mind at the moment, so why not?’” Patterson recalled.

When he arrived, no science buildings yet existed. The library was in what is now the Studio Theatre, and Turnbull Hall had been converted from a horse barn for the Behrend family into academic space. On his first day, the original Erie Hall opened.

He quickly fell for the campus and the city. “I liked Behrend, and I love Erie,” he said. “We have it all here.”

As was customary in higher education then, faculty members were heavily involved in the life of the campus and its students. There were few administrators and staff members. It was faculty members who helped with student clubs, activities, and events.

“I was up there at the college for events and things three, four nights a week,” he said. “And if you saw me, my camera would be right next to me. I took it with me everywhere I went.”

And he recorded history as it happened – one Winter Snowball dance, Hanging of the Greens, and Student Work Day at a time.  He also photographed the daily college life that so fascinates today – the “lunch ladies” making food in the Glenhill Farmhouse kitchen, students cannonballing into the pool and skiing down the hill behind today’s Science Complex, and the female students who lived on the second floor of the farmhouse, with bunkbeds stacked in each room.

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When night fell, he developed the photos.  “I didn’t have a darkroom, so I just had to wait until it got dark,” he said.

Later, he added a home darkroom in a corner of his basement. His son, Bob Patterson, a lecturer in accounting at Behrend, said that when he and his two sisters were growing up, they knew better than to flip on the basement lights without asking and risk ruining their dad’s work.

By the time Patterson retired, he had witnessed—and captured in photos—the remarkable growth of Penn State Behrend over nearly four decades. And, yet, he has a fondness for the earlier, leaner years.

“The lack of resources in the 1950s meant that you had to make do with what you had,” he said. “We didn’t have people to do the auxiliary, non-teaching work, so the faculty were much more involved in student activities and things.”

And, of course, Patterson, who was never without his camera, was there to document it all, and in retirement, he continued to enjoy photography, even mastering photo editing software programs.

“When dad retired, he got a computer,” Bob Patterson said. “I went over to help him set it up and he was the best student I ever taught. It wasn’t long before he was editing and restoring photos and turning them into 3-D images.”

To further cement Patterson’s legacy at Behrend, a third generation of his family now works at the college: Granddaughter Katie Patterson, Bob’s daughter, who serves as an admissions counselor.

Here are just few of Patterson’s photos:

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