By Taylor McKelvey

Thiel College hired Julie Neish, D.M.A. as the new director of choral activities and assistance professor of music this summer.

Neish said that before accepting this position at Thiel College, she was finishing up her doctoral degree, in Phoenix, Arizona. While studying at the University of Arizona State, she was also teaching several music courses there.

She talked about how different these two teaching experiences were. At University of Arizona the class sizes were very large, and her choir has around one hundred students involved. Whereas, at Thiel College she only has thirty-three students involved in choir.

While in Arizona, she was in the middle of the city and there was plenty of off campus activities and places to visit. In Greenville, Pennsylvania, as she called, “the boonies,” there is nothing but farm land, but she is enjoying the peace and quiet.

Neish explained why she choose to apply and accept a position at Thiel College. She answered by saying that, throughout her career she learned that one’s fellow colleagues can make or break the careers experience.

Neish stated that she loved the chapel and several other facilities on Thiel’s campus, including the James Pedas Communication Center, because it is so new, and beautiful. She wishes she had an office like the professors in that building did. Because, the only part of campus that she dislikes is her office, and she has requested new paint for the hallway, so that it looks nicer and more updated.

She is hoping to get more students involved in choir by next year. Next semester she will be teaching a new class on musical theater, and a seminar class on world music.

Neish talked much of her childhood and how she moved to a new location every three years. She left her home in North Carolina, to study for her bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University, in Idaho. After obtaining this degree, she moved to Arizona, for her doctoral degree, and now to Greenville. She said that she is hoping to stay in this area for more than three years.