Photo Courtesy of Meg Reitz
If you ever have any questions about res life don't hesitate to reach out to Meg!
When Meg Reitz, a passionate Geneseo community member, accepted a one-year position as a visiting faculty member in SUNY Geneseo’s Department of Geological Sciences in 2013, it quickly evolved into something much more than a short-term teaching position.
Meg told The Lamron, “I was in the middle of finishing my PhD when I came out this way [to Geneseo].” Suddenly, her newly found teaching position at SUNY Geneseo became more than just a career opportunity; it allowed her to re-discover some things she loves about herself and life.
During her time researching at Columbia, she remembers feeling like she was “just a geologist,” but in her undergraduate career she was a multi-faceted student athlete. “I played three different sports when I was in [an undergrad student], division III, and I was able to do other stuff and feel like it was part of my identity.” Then, in the transition to Columbia University, she reiterates, “I was just being known as a geologist… that’s not how I viewed myself.”
She recalls thinking, “I just [need] to not be in this space anymore,” and eventually decided to leave Columbia University as she finished her PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the university.
While starting her teaching career at SUNY Geneseo, after searching for a fresh start, she “immediately reached out to the field hockey coach” and asked to be a volunteer assistant. While working and becoming good friends with SUNY Geneseo’s field hockey coach, Meg still looked for more opportunities. Eventually, “the Vice President of Student and Campus Life at the time” reached out to share good news that she had been accepted as a volunteer. Meg remembers being told “you’re the type of person Geneseo seeks to educate,” for her “holistic, well-rounded” personality.
When her one-year teaching position came to an end, Meg decided to stay in Geneseo. Reflecting on the beginning of her time here, she said, “I had met some community members and the relationships with the people I met on campus were really valuable to me…for the first time, I wasn’t just a geologist.” Luckily, a job position in SUNY Geneseo’s Department of Resident Life presented itself. Meg could teach students “learning outside of the classroom,” a skill that she had plenty of experience with. She remarks that the opportunity “led [her] to stay in Geneseo.” This journey was not only professional for Meg; she later met her now-husband in Geneseo, who is “a third generation Geneseo resident.” She comments that “[h]is family was deeply entrenched in civic life in Geneseo,” mentioning some notable family members who worked and volunteered in the Geneseo police and fire departments, a bus driver (who all the Geneseo kids recognized), and even her husband’s grandmother, who served as the first female mayor of Geneseo.
Meg’s background made her no stranger to the lifestyles of her husband’s family; they all had different skills and interests while remaining connected to the community. Some advice Meg offers to those who may be feeling pressure to conform to one path, or the stress of not being able to achieve every different goal they hold, is to find a job which “is exciting,” while also “slowing down enough to know when to stop doing something” which is “sucking all of the energy out of you.”
Meg encourages students to “start finding the places where [your passions] do connect.” As a member of the Geneseo town board, an educator at SUNY Geneseo, and a mom, Meg finds countless new projects and tasks to tackle everyday; her passions and support from the community she loves keep her motivated.
Alongside geology, another “passion of mine [is] transportation,” Meg told The Lamron. On that note, Meg mentions one of the things that she is most proud of right now: the Geneseo Bike Bus. The Geneseo Bike Bus, which lets children gather together and bike through Geneseo to get to school each morning, is an example for Meg of some “amazing things that come out of the community.” She explained, “There’s so many benefits to the kids…[like] staying active [and] gaining independence.” She continued, praising the positive effects of the Bike Bus for the parents, who often “go and get coffee after” the kids bike to school.
Meg further touched on the importance of civic engagement, a passion which has cemented her husband’s family’s roots in Geneseo; this passion has intertwined into Meg’s involvement in Geneseo and supported her family’s life in the community. Her work teaching young people in Geneseo has changed her outlook on civic engagement. She reflects, “The way I engage with the world is very different from younger people.” Meg hopes to connect with students and teach that civic engagement is not simply all political or challenging.
Meg concluded that civic engagement “is in your everyday life.” Something as simple as noticing things in your community like a broken sidewalk, which may be challenging to others with a physical disability, constitutes a form of civic engagement. Even talking to others about the gorgeous sunsets Geneseo is known for is a way to be civically engaged. She exclaimed, “The Bike Bus is civic engagement”; it is a way for her to have fun with her kids in the community. Meg reiterated the importance of civil engagement: “Showing up at a village board meeting [or] looking at an agenda ahead of time [is also civic engagement]...showing up to something [else] that is interesting to you or matters to you [also] counts!”