MWCC Vet Tech Professor Shares Her Journey From Art to Animals
By Isabelle Mascary | Assistant Editor
Once your passion meets your purpose, work no longer exists when you’re doing what you love. Meet Hilary Blair, the Mount’s new Veterinary Technician Professor who began at MWCC as an adjunct professor for two years and is now full-time.
Working as an emergency and critical care veterinary technician for the past fourteen years, Blair chose the Mount because of an opportunity to teach a subject she is passionate about. “I am deeply familiar with [the subject] just because of my profession in general as a veterinary nurse,” Blair said.read more
Assistant Chemistry Professor, Dr. John Sirois, has just begun his first semester at Mount Wachusett Community College after moving back from Alaska, where he taught the past five years.
Originally from Massachusetts, Sirois moved away from home after completing his master’s degree. From here, he continued his education at the University of Rhode Island (URI), where he obtained his Ph.D., and Oregon State University (OSU), where he completed his post-doctoral fellowship.read more
A Passionate, Devoted, and Talented Professor Who Will Be Missed by All Of MWCC
By Maddie Willigar | Editor-in-Chief
Mount Wachusett Alumnus and English Professor, David Wyman, unexpectedly passed away on August 12. His presence on campus is one many will miss, and Wyman will be remembered by those at MWCC as someone passionately devoted to his beliefs, students, and poetry.
Regarding the news, President Vander Hooven said, “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of David Wyman. David was an extraordinary educator, completely dedicated to his students. The Mount has lost a passionate teacher and friend. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and the many colleagues who will miss his love and friendship.”read more
Equity and Inclusion: Mount Wachusett’s Inaugural Chief Diversity Executive
By Maddie Willigar | Editor-in-Chief
Newly appointed Chief Diversity Executive, Stephanie Williams, started her position at the Mount on April 4. Though the pandemic delayed this position from being created sooner, President Vander Hooven and Williams believe this role will foster an inclusive environment where students can be successful.
Before Williams started in April, Vander Hooven said that the biggest quality he was looking for when searching for someone to fill this position was someone who had “significant experience in leading in complex organizations.”read more
Mount’s New Professor Discusses His Past and Plans for the Future
By Peter Edwards | Observer Contributor
New English faculty at the Mount Zach Buscher hopes to continue to improve on his developmental writing class while also expanding his reach to other core college courses as he spends more time here.
Since becoming part of Mount Wachusett Community College’s faculty during the summer of 2019, Zach Buscher has made his presence known in the English department by creating an entirely new and intensive writing class.
Buscher said his work so far with his MWCC students has been “very rewarding,” as he works intensively four days a week with the students in his 097 class that he created. He’s been able to work with students that weren’t quite ready for college level writing classes and by the end of the semesters he claims that “it is some of the best writing I’ve seen.” Considering Buscher has been teaching at Quinsigamond Community College for the last 11 years of his life shows how impressed he has been so far with the students at MWCC.read more
Hiking a mountain can be a tough obstacle for some, but it is also a way to relieve any stress one may have or even just to clear one’s mind. For Nancy Regan, who works in Health Services on the Gardner campus at Mount Wachusett Community College, this is a way of life. She hikes nearly every weekend and does it year round.
“I love it. For me, it is exhilarating. I consider it a lot of soul-searching that you can do when you’re out in nature and I think it’s great for anyone,” said Regan, who is currently in her third year as the advisor of the MWCC Hiking Club.read more
By Liam Scanlon | Observer Contributor
Aliza Miller
Most students at Mount Wachusett Community College may know Aliza Miller as their math professor. She teaches a wide range of levels of math classes. She is a Project ACCCESS (Advancing Community College Careers: Education, Scholarship, and Services) Fellow with the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). She posts a Math Problem of the Week on the whiteboard outside her office.
Aside from her work with the math department at The Mount, she is also the Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies at The Mount, has traveled all around the world, and is an artist. Miller has lived in New York, Kaohsiung (in Taiwan), Montreal, Vermont, and here in Massachusetts.
Miller taught English in Kaohsiung through HESS International Educational Group. She came into the country without knowing how to speak Chinese. It was a ‘huge culture shock’ she recalls.
She had to learn to drive a 90cc scooter aggressively through crowded streets. She eventually had to learn some traditional Chinese characters. There were vastly different landscapes within 50 miles of each other. Karaoke was a big deal. After a week of training, she was teaching.
She taught students from the kindergarten level to junior high level. She has kept in touch with some of her former students through social media. One of her students, whose English name is Vivian, is now an aspiring dancer living in London.
What she misses most from Taiwan is the food. It isn’t the karaoke or having to drive aggressively on a 90cc scooter in crowded streets, but the ‘fresh,’ ‘legit,’ food available at almost any hour. She could get fresh food at a night market on her way home from teaching late night classes.
Miller has decorated her current home with artwork featuring origami and geometry. She has a flock of origami cranes following the path of a huge Pythagorean Spiral on one of her walls and a flock traveling along a sine curve on another. She does Bonsai Origami. Her office also has some origami artwork.
Like most professors here at the Mount, Miller is more than what meets the eye in her classes.
