1. In one year, I ate over 2,000 donuts. In 10th grade, I worked at a donut shop and the compensation was $1.50 per hour and all the donuts you can eat. I worked every other day for a full year and ate at least a dozen donuts on each shift. I did gain 40 pounds but also grew eight inches taller going from 5’2” and 105 pounds to 5’10” and 145 pounds. If I stayed with the job for my junior year, I may have grown enough to play basketball at Siena.
2. When I was 12 years old, my scout troop participated with other troops in a hike inspired by the President Kennedy Physical Fitness Program. I walked 50 miles in one day. It took me 22 hours, beating the deadline by almost two hours. The last five hours took place in a cold, November rain.
3. In high school, I was in an accelerated math program and really liked mathematics but found high school math boring and rarely did the homework. I was passionate about music and planned on becoming a music educator. One day, my 10th grade math teacher pulled me out to the hallway and told me, “People reach their limits at different points of time in mathematics, you have reached yours, do not sign up for 11th grade math.” Fortunately, I didn’t listen to her. I signed up for 11th grade math, took calculus my senior year, and completed undergraduate and graduate math degrees.
4. I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play in a high school gym. The ticket was $5 which I thought was outrageous but worth it because for a few hours I was able to stand just a few feet from Clarence Clemons while he played. Very cool since I was a sax player.
5. I hold a New York State high school coaching record. I have the highest winning percentage for anyone who has coached a high school sport for a full season or more. I coached a volleyball team for one year that went undefeated. With a winning percentage of 1.000, it’s a record that cannot be beat.
6. I missed celebrating my billion-second birthday. The comprehensive exam for my graduate degree in computer science was a couple of days after I crossed the billion second mark. Couldn’t party. Needed to study.
7. Despite being an average athlete, I am in a hall of fame. I was an inaugural inductee into the New York State Mathematics Educators Hall of Fame in 2008. It may have been the luck of the leprechaun or maybe the ruthlessness of piracy that got me in (see classroom photo, below).
8. Ten years ago I was a backup keynote speaker for President Barack Obama. Long story made short, he didn’t show, and I did the talk.
9. I started teaching at Siena College in 1982 when our president, Dr. Chris Gibson, started his first year as a student at Siena. I think I was the youngest tenure-track faculty member for two years until my colleague, Dr. Lois Daly, joined the faculty.
10. Over 48 years ago I met an amazing young woman at a Franciscan picnic (see blurry photo, below). We enjoyed talking to each other and just before we had to head home, she kissed me. We’re still together after three kids and lots of adventures.
