To celebrate the redesign of our blog, we are introducing the department’s professional and student staff in a 6-part “Staff Spotlight” series. Today, we invite you to learn more about Kristi, the newest addition to our staff.
Fast Facts
Name: Kristi Pakusch
Position: Department Secretary and Graduate Coordinator
Hometown: Rochester, NY
Education: BA in International Studies from SUNY Brockport
With the department since: October 2017
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done?
I’ve been very fortunate in that there are way too many to list only one! I worked for and lived in Disney World, volunteered in several remote villages in the Andes Mountains in Peru, rode Rochester’s Fast ferry from Spain to Morocco after it had been sold to EuroFerries, helped put together a party in Mariah Carey’s hotel room for her twin’s 1 st birthday, ran a half marathon, and ziplined—both through a forest in Mexico and between mountains in Peru.
If you could witness any historical event, which one would you want to see and why?
I would want to witness the tearing down of the Berlin Wall because I am fascinated by the Cold War and what the fall of the wall represented for the world at that time.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Eat, run, bike, and binge-watch Netflix.
Where would you go on your dream vacation?
Backpack across every country in the world!
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in the last five years?
That you need to live for the moment and do what matters most to you because you never know when you won’t be able to do it anymore.
