>> Well, I started at Bucknell University, where I got my undergraduate degree in English
with a concentration in theatre and I was very much a liberal arts major and loved it.
It was a great way for me to learn many, many things.
When I got out of the university, I struggled for a couple of years to find a path
that would give me a career that would allow me to make money,
that would help me support my family,
and at some point I was very involved obviously with theatre, with the arts.
But I realized that I was not going to be an artist but that didn't mean
that I couldn't use my interest in the arts, my commitment to the arts
to help make arts organizations stronger.
But I needed some new skills, so I decided to pursue an MBA at Smeal
and I was not a traditional freshman or beginning student in the MBA program.
So I had to do a little bit of remedial work.
I had to take a couple of business classes before I was admitted
and they gave me great preparation.
But I learned wonderful skills in the business school at Penn State and I was very fortunate
to be in a small class of people who knew a lot, knew a lot more than I did about a lot of things
that I came to use and so the combination of my two degrees has really, really set the stage
for my successful career, I would say.