Teaching for me is the genuine article. Since I'm involved with writing and literature, I love it when students engage, when they go public, which I see as the last act of writing. At Champlain, our young writers can go public by publishing in our national/international literary magazine, Willard & Maple, or when they present their own work in a public setting, like the Intercollegiate Writers' Exchange. Both the magazine and the writers' exchange are formidable rites of passage for our students, and I see both as highlights of our program.

As I see it, it's all about voice. If students can leave this college with a sense of their individuality and uniqueness in this world, and if they can translate that sense of self into their voice, their fingerprint as a writer, I'll feel like we've done our job. If this ride isn't exciting, I don't know what is.

I have had poetry published throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France and Japan, and taught writing and literature at Shanghai University and the Universidade Dos Acores. I hold a BA from Penn State University and an MFA from Norwich University.

If students can leave this college with a sense of their individuality, I'll feel like we've done our job.