Tag: Penn State Erie

Wednesdays at Bruno’s Café have never been so fun thanks to Hump Day

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DJs from BVZ Radio entertain the Behrend community through their weekly Hump Day broadcasts. Students (left to right) Anna Waterson, Zach California, Rayna Ganabathi, Monique Lebrun, Ethan Buckley, and Joseph Rock are some of the DJs who broadcast.

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

In need of a midweek pick-me-up? BVZ Radio has just the thing for you.

Every Wednesday, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., DJs from Penn State Behrend’s student-run radio station broadcast from the stage in Bruno’s Café. They take requests during the broadcasts, which have been appropriately named “Hump Day” in honor of the day they fall on.

“This all started back on College Radio Day on October 1, 2013,” says Monique Lebrun, a junior Communication major and marketing and promotions director at BVZ Radio. “We wanted to do something to get the students to notice us.”

The first broadcast proved to be a success; by the final hour, students were requesting songs via text message and Twitter.

Housing and Food Services was pleased with the response as well. They invited BVZ Radio back to do weekly broadcasts, and Wednesdays are now one of the busiest days at Bruno’s each week.

It’s also helped with recruiting for the station.

“It’s built brand awareness,” Lebrun says. “We now have students asking us how they can get involved, which then pushes them to take the class (COMM 003: Radio Practicum).”

With finals week right around the corner, Hump Day has now ended for the semester, but it will be back again next year. There are even talks of expanding the live broadcasts to other days as well.

“We hope that BVZ Radio continues to expand. That’s what will ultimately get more students involved,” Lebrun says.

To send in a Hump Day request, tweet BVZ Radio at @BVZradio. To learn more about the station, visit their website.

Far from Home: The Nittany Lions football team has a new fan in Moustafa Elhadary

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Far from Home is an occasional series in which we document a year in the life of international students at Penn State Behrend.

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Moustafa Elhadary did not know much about Penn State when he arrived in the United States for the first time this summer.  Everything from the weather to American college coursework was uncharted territory.

But he knew about one of the school’s greatest traditions, and he knew he wanted to be part of it.

“There were a lot of things I wanted to do this year, and going to a football game was one of them,” says Elhadary, a first-year computer engineering major at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. “It’s been on my bucket list for quite some time. I mean, it’s Penn State.”

He got his wish on Nov. 1, when he and friends took a bus from Penn State Behrend to University Park to watch the Nittany Lions’ game against the University of Maryland.

In Dubai, Elhadary’s home since 2007, American football is all but a myth. Fùtbol, better known as soccer in the U.S., is the most popular game there, and everyone is encouraged to participate and follow the sport. For Elhadary, football was a welcomed change.

From the moment he entered Beaver Stadium, Elhadary was overwhelmed by the sheer spectacle of a football Saturday at Penn State.

“I was really impressed by the number of people there. There were just tons of people,” he says.

He was further astounded once the game began. First downs, turnovers, illegal procedures — all of it was entirely new for Elhadary.

“At first, I had no idea what was going on,” he says. “I didn’t even know if we were winning or losing, so I just followed my friends’ lead.”

As the game continued, things became clearer. With each ensuing cheer and boo, Elhadary began to feel as if he was a part of something.

This synergy was especially evident with 3:18 left in the third quarter when Christian Hackenberg threw an eight-yard touchdown to Jesse James to give Penn State a 16-7 lead. Elhadary says it was even more noticeable after Maryland took the lead with less than a minute left in the game.

“It was almost as if everyone in the stadium had the exact same thought inside their heads,” he says. “They were angry at times. Then they were really happy at other times.”

Elhadary says he was upset that Penn State lost 20-19, but he was happy he was there to see it.

His football knowledge remains a work in progress for him, but he’s committed to educating himself; he’s already planning on attending the Michigan State Blue Out game on Nov. 29.

He has also learned one of the favorite pastimes for football fans: trash talking.

“One of my friends from back home actually goes to Maryland, and I haven’t talked to him since the game,” Elhadary says. “He can talk trash to me now. That’s why I haven’t talked to him.”

Moustafa football
Moustafa Elhadary attended his first Penn State football game on November 1. Here he is shown (far right) with friends Kenton Klobusnik (far left), Matthew Wheeler and Alyssa Anderson.

Far from Home: Craig Miranda finds culture shock to be not all bad

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Far from Home is an occasional series in which we document a year in the life of international students at Penn State Behrend.

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

For some, it takes days, even weeks, before culture shock sets in. For Craig Miranda, it took seconds.

The Kuwait native, who is half Indian and half British, arrived in the United States this past summer for the first time. Disparities were everywhere.

Green grass. Trees. Leaves. Blonde hair. Couples holding hands.

Nothing was similar to what Miranda was accustomed to in Kuwait, which had been his home for all 18 years of his life.

“It’s a big culture shock coming from Kuwait, which is closed off from the rest of the world, to America, which is wide open,” Miranda says.

Miranda noticed these differences when he and his family vacationed in California in July and again when he arrived at Penn State Behrend in August.

But for Miranda, the culture shock wasn’t all bad.

“I love the changes,” he says. “Everything here is so pleasing to the eyes. I love that.”

Miranda, a first-year Computer Science major, says leaving his family was difficult.

“During my first week, I was missing my family and longing to go home,” he says. “It was a challenge knowing that I was not going to be home for a year.”

Miranda has found plenty of distractions to ease the transition.

He’s quickly made friends and has enjoyed his coursework. He has been working on his tennis game, and plans to try out for Behrend’s team this spring.

Miranda regularly calls his parents, Colin and Sandra, and he plans to visit his brother, Clive, during the winter break. Clive is pursuing a master’s degree at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

“I thought it would be difficult, but the people here have made the transition so easy,” he says.

Miranda has also been proactive in making the most of his new environment. He’s taking advantage of the opportunities that Penn State Behrend provides and is already leaving his mark on the campus community.

Miranda, a self-described Adam Levine fanatic who likes to sing and play the bass guitar, has an affinity for pop music, and he wants to find a way to experience that music alongside fellow students. He’s currently in the process of getting approval for a new club that would accomplish just that.

“We have the Behrend musicians, we have the Acapella group (Tonacious), but there’s nothing where people can just come together to sing their hearts out. I want to have this club collaborate with the dance club and the engineering club, and I want it to be called the Penn State Behrend Performance Band,” Miranda says. “Even though I’m just a freshman, I want to start big. I want to make an impact.”

Miranda is in the process of getting approval for the new club, and he’s looking forward to performing alongside fellow students.

That’s not the only thing he’s looking forward to though. In Kuwait, summer temperatures can exceed 120 degrees. Even in winter, average daytime temperatures rarely fall below 60 degrees.

“I’ve never seen snow, and I can’t wait,” Miranda says. “Everyone says I’ll hate it after two weeks, but I know I’ll love it.”

Considering the fact that Erie had 138.4 inches of snow last year and earned the honor of America’s snowiest city, it probably won’t be long until Miranda is up to his ankles (okay, shins) in the white stuff.

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Far from Home: Yara Elsaied transitions from New York to Erie

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Far from Home is an occasional series in which we document a year in the life of an international student at Penn State Behrend.

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

An unfamiliar setting. New faces. New sights. New scents.

It doesn’t scare Yara Elsaied. She’s done this before.

Elsaied is in her first year as a student at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. While Erie, Pennsylvania and Behrend are entirely new for Elsaied, the United States is not. The Cairo native has grown quite fond of the country over the past couple years.

Yara Elsaied walks to class on a fall afternoon.
Yara Elsaied walks to class on a fall afternoon.

In 2013, Elsaied, who had been studying at The American University in Cairo, went to the United States to study at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, as an exchange student.

She didn’t come back.

For one-and-a-half years, Elsaied attended Stony Brook and learned about American culture. She saw the sights of New York and forged many great relationships. Still, something was missing.

“I always wanted to come here (to Penn State Behrend),” says the senior accounting major, who transferred to Penn State Behrend this fall.

Stony Brook did not have an accounting program, which is what made Behrend so attractive to Elsaied, who one day hopes to work at one of the Big Four audit firms.

The skyscrapers and busy streets that were constants in Elsaied’s life have been replaced by green fields and colorful leaves. She says that she has enjoyed Erie and Behrend in the time she has spent here so far, but she does get homesick.

She misses her family—mother Noha, father Ahmed, sister Mayar (17) and brother Zediad (6)—but now she also misses her New York “family.”

“It was very hard to leave New York, especially one of my best friends, Gabriella.” says Elsaied. “I actually didn’t know how to tell her I was coming here. Thankfully, she totally understood.”

Food has been another challenge for Elsaied. In New York, she was able to get the ingredients needed to cook Egyptian food, but that’s not been the case in Erie. She said she longs for a nice plate of Dolma Mahshi, her favorite Egyptian dish.

But Behrend does have other advantages that help keep her in touch with her heritage.

This fall, the college welcomed 186 new international students, the largest international class ever.

“Compared to New York, there are actually a lot more Egyptians here. The community is much larger here,” Elsaied says.

So far, Elsaied says she enjoys the new friends she has made and also enjoys her coursework. While she misses Cairo and New York, she’ll get a taste of both of them over the holiday break. Her sister will be visiting at that time and the two of them have planned quite the excursion with visits to New York, Florida, Las Vegas, and California all on the to-do list.

A trip to the west coast during an Erie winter sounds like an ideal getaway for Elsaied, who has quickly caught on to one of her new home’s most notable traits.

“Erie weather is so different one day to the next,” Elsaied says. “I always check the weather whenever I leave my apartment.”

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Behrend’s rain gardens enjoy successful summer growth period

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Jonathan and Bridget Thompson

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

You’ve probably heard of rain gardens, but do you know what they are?

At Penn State Behrend, they are a significant part of the college’s best management practices for storm water efforts.

The college’s two rain gardens — one between Fasenmyer and Hammermill buildings, and one to the east of Nick, near College Drive — sit lower than the surrounding lawn and act as basins to catch and slowly absorb rain water, helping reduce potential flooding during storms and filtering pollutants from storm water runoff that would otherwise enter Four Mile Creek and, eventually, Lake Erie. Storm water runoff is considered one of the nation’s main sources of water pollution.

The rain gardens were planted in 2012 with a $36,495 Growing Greener grant from the Department of Environmental Protection awarded to Ann Quinn, lecturer in biology.

According to Quinn, the gardens have been cut back for the fall, but they grew well this past season. She attributed the successful growth in part to the compost, which is mixture of food waste from Dobbins Dining Hall and leaf matter from the wooded areas on campus, added to the gardens.

The gardens do more than just help with storm water runoff. They are also butterfly way stations and certified pollinator gardens. When choosing what to plant in the garden, Quinn said students researched native plants that fit the three zones — wet, moist, and dry — of a rain garden and also filled the criteria for pollinator and butterfly certifications.

Plants in the college’s rain gardens that are tolerant of standing water include cardinal flower, New England aster, several varieties of Joe Pye weed, swamp milkweed, and cinnamon fern.

Some plants in the garden thrive in areas that hold several inches of water during and immediately after a rain event, but is otherwise dry. Plants in these areas need to be draught tolerant, but also handle water well, too. Plants in the garden that fall into this category include black-eyed Susan, false sunflower, kobold, and summer sweet.

Quinn said that every plant in the garden grew beyond expectations.

“The Joe Pye weed spread well, and there are plans to transplant some of it to other wetland areas on campus,” she said. “The milkweed was a beautiful addition and a very important plant to include for Monarch butterflies, who migrate to the Erie area annually.”

If you missed the gardens this summer, don’t worry, they’ll be abloom again in the spring. And the bees and butterflies will be there to greet you!

Until then, here are some photos to enjoy:

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Behrend Reacts: Who is your favorite professor?

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BehrendReactslogolargeBy Nicole Krahe
Marketing Communication Student Assistant, Penn State Behrend

Author William A. Ward once said; “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

With so many dedicated professors on our campus, we asked Behrend students, who is their favorite and why?

Samantha

Samantha Raible, senior, Biology, from Pittsburgh: “I would have to say my favorite professor is Dr. Pam Silver, Professor of Biology. She was tough but always took the time to help students. She made things interesting enough to keep us awake at an 8:00 A.M class.”

Cat

Cat Hensley, first-year student, Geography, from Michigan: “Dr. Michael Naber, lecturer in geosciences. He’s easygoing, funny, and has Harry Potter glasses.”

Cassie

Cassie Peters, sophomore, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, from Erie: “I would say Ms. Luciana Aronne,  lecturer in chemistry. She is supportive, motivational and keeps class interesting.”

Ronnie

Ronnie Cox, sophomore, Physics, from Erie: “My favorite professor would have to be Mr. Adam Combs, lecturer in mathematics. He is not going to take it easy on you but will take the time to go over things you don’t understand.”

Lindsey

Lindsey Chase, first-year student, Kinesiology, from Randolph, N.Y: “Mr. Scott Rispin, lecturer in art. He makes things fun and interesting, and is very personable. You can tell he cares about his students.”

Pat

Pat Kress, sophomore, Finance, from Erie: “I would say my management professor, Dr. Ryan Vogel, assistant professor of management. He is enthusiastic and relates concepts to college students well. He makes an 8:00 A.M class bearable.”

matthew

Matthew Moreau, senior, Biology, from Massachusetts: “Dr. Michael Campbell, a professor of biology. He engages you and makes things interesting. If you pay attention in class, it’s really rewarding.”

Katie

Katie Powers, first-year student, Biology, from Clearfield: “I would say Mr. Scott Simpson, lecturer in chemistry. He’s young and you can tell he’s excited about teaching. He also does experiments every day which is really cool.”

Mary

Mary Bradley, first-year student, Division of Undergraduate Studies, from Erie: “My favorite professor is Dr. Angela Rood, lecturer in psychology.  She breaks the class down to make it easier to understand and does activities every day to keep things fun and interesting.”

Behrend Reacts is a regular Thursday feature at the Behrend Blog that tries to get the campus pulse on a current topic, whether it’s serious or trivial. If you have a question to suggest for Behrend Reacts, please email Nicole Krahe at ndk5089@psu.edu.

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Behrend student Zach Knight strives to leave mark in music industry

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By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Zach Knight is a year away from graduation, but the Penn State Behrend student and aspiring musician is already putting his college education to good use.

Early last year, Knight, who previously majored in General Business and Project and Supply Chain Management, decided to make a change.

“I asked myself, ‘What applies to my life now? What relates to what I’m doing?’ Marketing just made sense,” says the Erie native, who began to seriously pursue a music career in 2011. “I feel as though the (marketing) program has helped me learn a lot about how to develop my career and further market myself.”

By all indications, Knight is doing a stellar job. His Twitter profile has over 7,100 followers while his Facebook profile has over 1,500 likes. He also was a nominee in the “Acoustics” genre at the 2014 Rock Erie Music Awards, and his first music video, “Christmas Without You,” was released last December.

Knight’s recent success is quite the juxtaposition from when he first began to record music. In early high school, he would use a microphone from the Rock Band video game to upload covers to YouTube. The method was unconventional but successful — YouTube users started requesting covers from Knight.

It continued to grow until Knight, whose style is combination of acoustic and R&B, decided to start writing his own music.

“I sat down and said, ‘I don’t want to be known for just doing covers,’” he says.

From there, Knight started working with producer Alan Dingfelder, lead vocalist of Erie-based band At That Moment, to record music. His first original song, “Out of This World,” was released in 2012 and had considerable success.

In fact, Abercrombie & Fitch signed a deal with him to have the song included in its November 2013 in-store playlist.

Though his parents, Barry and Kristen Knight, do not have musical backgrounds, they’ve been supportive and encouraging. His mother also helped spark Knight’s musical interest at seven years old when she purchased him a CD titled “The Promise” from the Christian boy band Plus One.

“I would just always sing that CD,” he recalls. “I would always try to make myself sound just like them.”

Knight says he hopes to be signed to a major label, so he will have the opportunity to spread his art and also make a living doing what he loves. If not, he says he would like to use his marketing degree to continue to work in the music industry.

“I’d really like to work for a record label in some capacity,” Knight says. “If I can’t be the music, I’d like to be the guy behind the music.”

Catching up with Zach Knight

Hometown: Erie, Pa.

Family: Barry and Kristen (parents); Xavier (19-year-old brother); Mallory (15-year-old sister); Maddy (13-year-old sister)

Biggest musical influences: “I would say Nate Cole, Justin Timberlake and Cody Simpson. Justin Bieber is also an influence, but for his musical ability, not his lifestyle.”

Musical background: “Believe it or not, I actually cannot read music. It has not been a problem though because I know all of my chords, and I can read chords. I’m a self-taught guitar player, which I learned in sixth grade. I’m a self-taught drummer, too.”

Immediate goals: “My goal, right now, is to produce as much music as possible and grow. When I do that, I know good things will come out of it.”

Audience for music at Behrend: “The Behrend student body has been great. I notice that more and more Behrend students are following me on Twitter. I’ve also performed some concerts here, which has helped get the word out.”

Hobbies outside of music: “I really like hanging out with my friends. I also like longboarding and steelhead fishing.”

What it would mean to be signed: “It would mean the world to me. It’s something that I have dreamed about for as long as I can remember.”

Zach Knight’s first EP, titled “Out of This World,” is available on his official website.

Here is the video for “Christmas Without You,” which was released in December 2013.

Behrend alumnus Chad Zurat fulfills dream in Colorado Rockies organization

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Zurat, Chad (Dust Devils)By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Chad Zurat ’14 sat nervously, his eyes and ears glued to the television. The former Penn State Behrend standout pitcher waited anxiously with hopes of hearing his name called in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft.

Day one went by, and nothing.

Day two followed.

Then came day three.

A total of 1,215 baseball players were selected in the 2014 MLB Draft from June 5 to 7.

Zurat was not one of them.

After waiting helplessly for three days, he would now have to wait some more.

“I was hanging on a limb, I guess you could say. After a month, your hopes kind of waver a bit, and it’s hard to keep thinking it’s definitely going to happen,” says Zurat, of Clearfield, Pa., who compiled a 2.54 earned-run average while going 8-2 in his senior season with the Lions.

When the call came, Zurat says he was shocked and speechless.

He was at his accounting internship at Little Pine Resources in Clearfield on July 11 when he received a phone call. He was surprised to get a phone call during work but was even more surprised when he heard the voice on the other end of the line — Colorado Rockies scout Ed Santa.

“He introduces himself and says, ‘Well, we have an opening on our team, are you still interested?’ I said, ‘Yeah, of course I am,’” Zurat recalls. “After five minutes, he calls back, and says, ‘Congratulations Chad, you’re a member of the Colorado Rockies organization.’”

It couldn’t have been a better home for Zurat, who says he became a fan while watching the team win 21 of 22 games in September 2007 en route to their first World Series appearance.

Within 12 hours, Zurat was on a flight to Pasco, Washington, where he would join the Tri City Dust Devils, the Short-Season Single-A farm team of the Rockies. He moved in with a host family, Dan and Chrissy Charron and their two sons, 12-year-old Daniel and 10-year-old Andrew.

Some might find the experience overwhelming, but Zurat was on cloud nine.

“I was so excited that I didn’t care at all. I was just ready to get on that plane and get out there on the baseball field,” he says.

He got his wish soon.

On July 13, just two days after that initial phone call from Santa, Zurat made his professional baseball debut against the Spokane Indians. In three innings of work, he allowed four runs (three earned), seven hits and struck out three batters.

“In my very first outing, I could tell that the talent was a decent step up from what I was used to,” Zurat says. “They take advantage of mistakes at this level. If you leave a curveball up in the zone or leave a fastball in the middle of the plate, you’re going to be snapping your head back and watching the ball go to the fence.”

Zurat would make adjustments and his performances improved. In his last three outings, he compiled a 3.60 earned-run average, walked zero batters and struck out six.

Penn State Behrend baseball coach Paul Benim coached Zurat for four years and believes the best is yet to come.

“Chad’s a great kid and a tremendous teammate. He never let his own head get in the way,” Benim says. “He just kept working, and he kept getting better. I think he’s only going to get better as he doesn’t have a lot of mileage on his arm and never threw a lot of innings.”

Zurat’s next chance to impress the Rockies organization will come in February when he heads to Scottsdale, Arizona, for spring training. It will be the first time that he will have an opportunity to meet and play with some of the Rockies current stars, including shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.

Zurat is going to try to remain professional, but says it will be a challenge.

“I haven’t met them yet, and the day I do, I will speechless right off the bat,” he says. “The fan is going to come out at first just because I’ve watched these guys play for the last seven years and they’re my favorite players. I have to work with them though, so there does still have to be a little bit of professionalism.”

In preparation for spring training, Zurat will begin a new lifting and running program this week. He will then start throwing again in December.

Until then, Zurat will be back working for Little Pine Resources doing contracted work. As an accounting graduate, Zurat has a nice Plan B should a professional baseball career not pan out.

He’s going to relish this opportunity while it lasts though.

“When I go to work, I look at a baseball field. I’m not looking at a cubicle all day. I get to come and play baseball. That’s all I need. It’s so much fun,” Zurat says.

Quick Hits with Chad Zurat

Family: Tom and Kristen Zurat (parents); Chelsea Brincka (sister)

Pitch repertoire: “Fastball, curve, change. I added the changeup this summer. I had been working on one, but I couldn’t get it to work. Our pitching coach worked with us a bit, and I finally found a grip that I could feel comfortable with, and it was a good pitch for me at the end of year.”

Thoughts on living with a host family: “They were just excellent people. I really enjoyed hanging out with their sons too. They were always fun to be around during the day when we didn’t have to be at the field.”

Why did you come to Behrend: “I didn’t even look at baseball for college. I was actually a basketball player. I came to Behrend because I initially wanted to pursue engineering, and I knew a lot of people from my high school were coming to Behrend. I emailed Coach Benim and asked if I could walk on. ”

Thoughts on Penn State Behrend baseball program: “It played a huge role in getting me to where I am now. Coach Benim did everything in his power to help me out, and he does everything in his power to help out any player he’s ever coached. I wasn’t even going to play baseball in college, but he gave me a chance. I can’t credit him enough.”

Coach Benim on the Rockies signing Zurat: “He was evaluated by 12 clubs, and I’m really happy that the Rockies gave him a chance. (Rockies scout) Ed Santa was here the day that Chad struck out 15 of the 21 batters he faced against Pitt-Bradford. His fastball sat at 93 miles per hour and touched 94 miles per hour, so he made quite the impression.”

Behrend Reacts: What is the last photo on your phone?

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By Nicole Krahe
Marketing Communication Student Assistant, Penn State Behrend

World-renowned photographer Sally Mann once said, “Photographs open doors to the past, but also allow a look into the future.”

Keeping this in mind, we asked Behrend students what the most recent photo in their phone was, and what it meant to them.

Ben Katsarsky

Ben Katsarsky, first-year student, Plastics Engineering Technology, from Syracuse, N.Y.: “The last photo in my phone is a screenshot of an Instagram post I made 98 weeks ago. I was missing home, so I was scrolling through my old posts and found this one of a duffel bag full of shirts. I used to have a clothing line and it was the first time I took the shirts to school to sell them to my friends.”

Braedon Blasic

Brandon Blasic, first-year student, Division of Undergraduate Studies, from Erie: “My last photo is of my friends and I hanging out before we all went our separate ways to different colleges.”

Tyler Dunlap

Tyler Dunlap, first-year student, Division of Undergraduate Studies, from Erie: “My most recent photo is a screenshot of Untitled Finale by Atreyu, on Pandora.”

Ryan Kepner

Ryan Kepner, sophomore, Mechanical Engineering, from Williamsport, Pa.: “This is a photo of a tattoo I’m about to get. I enlisted in the army a year ago because I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and to support this country. I feel like this tattoo will represent that.”

Dan Kozubal

Dan Kozubal, sophomore, Chemical Engineering, from Saegertown, Pa.: “This is just a photo of chemistry notes. I’m working really hard this year to get good grades.

Julia Gabreys

Julia Gabreys, first-year student, Psychology, from Franklin, Pa.: “My most recent photo is actually a screenshot of a Snapchat my boyfriend sent me. It says, ‘Marry me.’”

Rob Strain

Rob Strain, sophomore, Management Information Systems, from Erie:  “My last photo is of my work schedule at the Sara Reed Retirement Center. I love working there because I feel like I am making a difference in the residents’ lives.”

Monique Lebrun

Monique Lebrun, Junior, Communication, from New York, N.Y.: “This is a photo of my friend and I at Aoyama for her birthday dinner. We went to three different restaurants before deciding to go there.”

Sydney Sample

Sydney Sample, sophomore, English, from Corry, Pa.: “This is a screenshot of a quote by Jim Elliott that I found on Tumblr. It says, ‘He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, in order to gain what he cannot lose.’ I just like the message.”

Julie Pace

Julie Pace, sophomore, Nursing, from Erie: “My most recent photo is of my sister and I at our birthday dinner. We are really close, so it’s always good to see her.”

Behrend Reacts is a regular Thursday feature at the Behrend Blog that tries to get the campus pulse on a current topic, whether it’s serious or trivial. If you have a question to suggest for Behrend Reacts, please email Nicole Krahe at ndk5089@psu.edu.

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Student earns wings

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By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Miranda Boatman took a deep breath as she boarded the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. After two-plus weeks of training, the time had finally come.

Within minutes, the Penn State Behrend junior childhood and early adolescent education major would be more than 1,200 feet above ground. Then she would jump from the aircarft and fall at speeds exceeding 130 miles an hour.

“Once we’re in that plane, and they open that door, that’s when it gets real,” said Boatman. “There’s only one way down.”

The Bellefonte, Pennsylvania native spent three weeks this summer completing the Army’s Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. The course is better recognized by its nickname — Jump School.

“They teach you how to do a PLF — parachute landing fall,” said Boatman, a member of The Pride of Pennsylvania ROTC Battalion (which includes students from Penn State Behrend, Gannon University, and Mercyhurst University). “For me, it wasn’t as bad because I’m smaller, so I hit the grounder lighter.”

The training schedule that leads to the completion of an airborne jump is significant. It’s broken down into three weeklong intervals: ground week, tower week, and jump week.

Once the training has been completed, participants are expected to be able to execute jumps, deploy parachutes, land safely, pack swiftly, and move to a designated rally point.

Boatman said the training could be tedious at times, especially during ground week, but it’s a tried-and-true process.

“With ground week, you start on a (34-foot) platform and start swinging back and forth. They say they’ve been teaching these same methods for over twenty years, and it obviously works,” Boatman said.

During week two, participants practice jumps from 250-foot towers. The week is devoted to teaching all of the different phases of parachute flight.

The training process is far from easy. According to Boatman, more than 150 participants in her training group were dropped from the training because their jumps were not proficient during weeks one and two.

Those who made it to week three were in for some real, high-flying fun.

Boatman made a total of five jumps from the aircraft, including a night jump that proved to be the highlight of her experience.

“After you hit the ground on that jump, you knew you were getting your wings, so that was pretty great,” she said. “Everyone’s adrenaline was going after that jump, and everyone had their own little story about it.”

Boatman’s success in jumping should not come as a surprise. It’s in her blood.

Her father, John Boatman, completed the same training years earlier before serving in the National Guard. He was on hand for his daughter’s jumps and presented her with her airborne jump wings on the final day of the training.

Boatman plans to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the National Guard after her graduation in 2015. She’s thankful for the experiences ROTC has given her, especially her unique “summer school” venture.

“I just had such a great summer,” she said. “ROTC has provided me with so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise had. I wouldn’t have been able to jump out of a plane. That’s just not something a normal college kid gets to do.”