- I graduated from Siena in 1992 with a BA and Honors Certificate in English and a concentration (or, minor) in Marketing/Management. Early in my teaching career, I was immensely excited to revisit the office of my mentor from the English Department, the late Dr. Ognibene, but this time as a colleague and office-mate!
- During my teenage years, my father owned a small gas station and auto repair shop, so for my sixteenth birthday I received a ‘68 Camaro Convertible that my father had restored. A few years later, I earned my motorcycle license and had a cherry red Yamaha 600.
- I am a first generation college student. After receiving my BA, I earned an MA in English at The College of Saint Rose and then a doctorate at Saint John’s University in Queens, NY. It took me ten years to complete and defend my dissertation (while working full-time, raising two children, and helping to run a family restaurant - see #8).
- I was born and raised in historic Kinderhook, NY where I now reside with my husband and two children. We live in a large farmhouse that was originally built in 1780 and which is situated on a rural road surrounded by orchards and fields. On any given day, I’ll see deer, rabbits, turkeys, cows, goats and chickens in our yard. Upon seeing an old tractor pulling a large wagon overflowing with pumpkins as the sun was setting over the Catskills, a city-friend once remarked, “I feel like I’m living in a Hallmark movie!”
- Though he graduated years before me, my husband is a Siena alumn, and our two children are currently here as students studying business and communications.
- I was a “dance mom” for a number of years when my daughter was a competitive dancer. My husband and I spent many years helping and traveling with both of our kids’ travel and school teams - volleyball, baseball, and basketball.
- My two sisters and their children live less than five miles away, so all of the “ Liptak cousins” - all nine of them - were able to grow up together. My mother, too, lives nearby as well as most of my husband’s family. I once hosted a sit-down Thanksgiving dinner for about 35 people. Once.
- I worked in the restaurant business for just over 25 years. In 1988, my parents purchased a local Kinderhook restaurant, Carolina House, where I worked most positions over the years - hostess, busser, server, dishwasher, prep cook, bookkeeper, cleaner, and manager. I went on to become a partner with my father and then an owner along with my two sisters. In 2013, my family sold the business to a former employee; sadly, the business closed during the pandemic. Carolina House was one of the oldest independently-owned restaurants in Columbia County (1983-2020).
- My first job at Siena was in 1999 when HEOP hired me to work as a writing tutor and then as the writing coordinator/counselor. These early-career positions taught me about how to provide student-centered support and how to be an effective administrator. Shortly after being hired by HEOP, Dr. Meg Woolbright gave me my first teaching position at the College. Since 2000, I’ve taught a number of courses in English, First Year Seminar, and Women’s Studies. From 2005 to 2014, I served as Siena’s director of the Writing Center and then moved to teaching FYS full-time, eventually leading the program as a co-director with Dr. Britt Haas.
- My family owns a modest home just outside of Cape May, NJ where we now spend the majority of our summers. Two of my favorite activities are walking on the beach at sunrise and reading on the beach in the afternoons.
