By Alex Sabatini
As students, we look to our professors for guidance and to give us the tools we need to make it in the real world. We often forget our mentor’s lives are not solely based on our success. Professors have the same breaks as we do. So what did they do this past summer?
This summer, Dr. Ryan Stouffer married his girlfriend of two years, Dr. Leah Shilling. The wedding was held with just him and Leah along with the officiator and a photographer who doubled as the witness. As they had planned, they were married with their feet in the sand and were blessed with a ceremonial blowing of a conch shell: “They did it all, so we went down to Key West, went to the courthouse, and then they married us on the beach in front of a bunch of random people.”
Wedding in Key West
Shortly after, the two were excited to announce the pregnancy of their first child. The baby is due on February 21st, 2019. Congratulations Ryan and Leah!
Dr. Isabel Fay spent her summer in Germany visiting her parents and traveling around Europe. While in Germany she took a spontaneous trip to see Beyoncé with a friend and were able to purchase last-minute tickets for $20. She also worked preparing for her Public Relations Writing course: “No matter where I was, I worked in Spain at the beach and even there I was working.”
While students were in Virginia battling July’s heat wave, Dr. Naomi Johnson and her husband, Greg Tsigaridas, were enjoying much cooler temps visiting Yellowstone National Park. In addition to her trip to Wyoming, Dr. Johnson worked closely on a research project with Dr. Alec Hosterman and Dr. Ryan Stouffer that focuses on the #MeToo movement.
“We have been analyzing social support which is basically how people support one another during times of crisis or health issues. We analyzed how social support is communicated as part of the #MeToo movement on Twitter.”
Dr. Johnson expressed that their findings showed in the first three months the support given was focused on providing resources and in the second three months was focused on providing emotional support. They will soon be submitting their work in hopes of getting published.
Finally, Professor Jeff Halliday is returning from his spring sabbatical with probably the most interesting story yet: an encounter with an alligator!
“I did not know that alligators existed in North Carolina until I went to go fishing on my first night there. I went fishing and I attracted the attention of an alligator. That was really scary.”
Professor Halliday said that as he was looking at the alligator he started googling whether they really lived in North Carolina to make sure he was really seeing an alligator. As the sun set, the alligator began coming closer to him and that is when he knew it was time to leave. Thankfully he returned to teach fresh new faces in the COMMunity.
Though all of our professors here at Longwood University work very hard, it is always fun to have a peek into their lives during the summer.