Alumni
Alumna returns to school to pursue childhood passions
By Amy Milgrub Marshall
Mary Beth McCubbin’s (’02 B.L.A., ’83 B.F.A. Art) work has taken her from the Czech Republic to San Francisco, Denver to South Carolina. Since graduating from Penn State four years ago, she has parlayed her unique educational experiences into a promising career as a landscape architect at the internationally known Design Workshop, complemented by a visiting professor appointment at Clemson University.
McCubbin recently completed her nine-month stint in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at Clemson, where she worked with department head Dan Nadenicek, her former advisor at Penn State. Last spring, Nadenicek had asked her to join the rapidly expanding program as a guest faculty member. Intrigued but hesitant at first, McCubbin says it was a “wonderful experience.”
“I learned so much,” she notes. “It was a challenge to stay a step ahead of the students. Their enthusiasm and energy were contagious.”
McCubbin taught a community design studio with an emphasis on healthy and sustainable communities and an introductory site design studio, which tackled projects for a rural village town square and for a Greenville Hospital System elder care facility catering to individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. While she learned a lot to take back with her to her firm, McCubbin says her own professional experience enhanced the learning process for her students. “Students often question the relevance of what they are assigned, so I used my experience to tie it together for them.”
McCubbin did not stray far from the University after earning her first Penn State degree in 1983. She spent 13 years working in the University’s Department of Publications as a production manager before returning to the student ranks, at a point when she “wanted to make some changes” in her life. As a child, she says she hoped to be either an architect or a doctor. “When I was growing up, I didn’t know there was such a thing as landscape architecture. I guess my attraction to both art and science led me to the field.”
As a returning adult student, she says she was better equipped to budget her time, and very motivated because she was clear about her goals. “I had tremendous support from friends, family and faculty. Also, the traditional students were fantastic—I have many lasting friendships.”
While in the landscape architecture program, McCubbin had the opportunity to pursue her varied interests, participating in a number of unique projects that allowed her to travel while gaining valuable work experience. In summer 2001, she collaborated with community leaders in the Czech Republic on a variety of initiatives, including developing parks, creating an “eco-playground” and preserving a historic section of Prague. “I can’t say enough about the amazing people I worked with and the additional perspective it has given me,” she notes.
Stateside, she spent a summer in San Francisco, studying the history of the Presidio Forest, which is a National Park Service Historic Landmark. She worked for the Presidio Trust and helped to organize a charrette involving Penn State faculty and representatives of the National Park Service and the Trust. The goal of the charrette was to identify character-defining features of the forest as benchmarks for establishing treatments for an aging forest. Her master’s thesis, in progress, evolved from her work there.
Her experiences at University Park stand out for her as well. “I think what was so rich about my education was that each of the professors brought different expertise and viewpoints to the classroom,” she explains.
Her education at the hands of experienced and diverse professionals, combined with her stellar academic record and impressive work experience, helped Mary Beth obtain her position at Design Workshop, an award-winning international firm practicing landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and tourism planning with offices in the United States and South America. She currently works in the firm’s Denver office (she started in the Vail office and remained there until that office closed in 2004). She has primarily worked on community planning projects in Colorado and in Ferguson Township near State College. She has also been involved with a project involving innovative ways for developers to integrate storm water management into their communities.
“I guess I thrive on the challenges that are presented every day in a firm full of amazingly dedicated, creative people. I believe in the ideals of the firm and appreciate the support they have given me,” McCubbin notes.
Although some may argue that McCubbin has already achieved success as a landscape architect, she claims she still has a long way to go. She jokes that it’s presumptuous of her to hand out advice to aspiring landscape architects, and recalls something Mark Battaglia, Penn State professor emeritus of landscape architecture, told her when she first went back to school. “It takes 20 years to be a good landscape architect,” he advised, and Mary Beth agrees. “I guess the lesson there is patience,” she explains. “There is so much to learn and so little time.”
music education alumnus pursues dream of performing career
By Flora Marynak
Like many graduates, when Korey Jackson (’01 B.S. Music Ed.) left Penn State, he probably planned on returning to his alma mater at some point, maybe for a football game or to get together with old friends. But when he returned in 2004, it was not for a reunion or a Big Ten clash at Beaver Stadium. Korey was lured back to Happy Valley by an invitation to perform in the School of Theatre’s production of Ragtime, an opportunity that gave him the confidence to continue to pursue his dream of an acting career in New York City.
He says playing Coalhouse in Ragtime—the School of Theatre’s largest ensemble undertaking—remains one of his favorite roles because of the character’s compelling circumstances and the production’s incredible music. “Ragtime was an amazing experience for me, and I am forever grateful to the theatre faculty and cast for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing production,” says Jackson, who was invited to perform the role by professors Cary Libkin, director of the production, and Anthony Leach, musical director and conductor.
After graduating with a degree in music education in 2001, Jackson remained at Penn State for another year to work on his singing while studying toward a master’s in vocal performance. Although he is proud of his degree in music education, he says he was compelled to follow his dream of a performing career. “I needed to pursue my passion for acting and singing while my life situation allowed me to,” he notes.
Jackson admits it’s been hard to break into acting without an extensive background in theatre, especially with so many well-trained actors in New York. But he has snagged Off-Broadway roles at the York Theatre and the Blue Heron Arts Center, and parts in regional theatre productions at Arkansas Rep, Tennessee Rep and Weston Playhouse. It was Anthony Leach, professor of music education and director of Essence of Joy, who influenced Jackson, a native of the Baltimore area, to attend Penn State. They met when Leach was adjudicating a choral festival and, according to Jackson, “his energy and obvious ability to connect with students … was a large part of the reason I chose to apply to Penn State.”
While working toward his degree, Korey built on the performing experience he gained as a kid in school plays and musicals and at a local dinner theatre. He performed in many productions with the Penn State Opera Theatre and was able to take a couple of theatre classes whenever his hectic music education curriculum allowed.
Jackson admits he is still discovering where his talents are best suited, but he has already been honored for the quality of his work. He was a finalist in the 2006 Howard County (Maryland) Arts Council’s Rising Star Award competition, which was won last year by fellow Penn State graduate and friend Carly Hughes (’04 B.F.A. Musical Theatre). Jackson says musical theatre has been a great fit for him, but he also enjoys straight theatre and all its inherent challenges. He has taken film and television acting classes with the expectation of experiencing those mediums as well. As Jackson sees it, they are all connected and a successful career in any combination would be extremely gratifying. No matter what the medium, he says his goal is to be a part of productions that open people’s minds and “cause them to think about themselves, their surroundings and subjects they may not be familiar with. To be a part of that process … is one of the most gratifying experiences that I have in my life.”
According to Jackson, successful actors have two things in common: passion and perseverance. As in so many fields, he says networking is a crucial element in finding work. Positive comments from fellow actors, directors, agents, casting directors, stage managers and others in the industry can land you an audition or even a role, Korey notes, but he emphasizes that it all comes back to you. “The most important advice I can give is just believe in yourself and be willing to adjust.”
