In this Senior Spotlight, meet Patrick Skerker, a senior from Glastonbury, Connecticut! Patrick is part of the Neag School of Education studying to be a Secondary Mathematics teacher. He is also dual-majoring with a degree in Mathematics from CLAS. Patrick has many nick names – one of his favorite being “Skerk-nation.” Patrick was nominated for his “all-star” work as an RA!
What are your post graduation plans?: The Neag program is an integrated bachelors/master’s program; so I’ll have a post-grad year starting next fall where I’ll be earning a master’s in education, and from there I’ll be teaching math to students in grades 7 – 12.
What is your favorite UConn memory?: It’s definitely a split. Getting my acceptance letter to Neag was crazy. It’s something you work so hard for and really want to do, so finally reading it felt incredible. I was so nervous I had to read the e-mail through eight or nine times to make sure I didn’t miss-read that I was accepted. The other incredible moment was the four-day stretch in 2014 between the men’s and women’s final four/championship games. There was this electric feeling on campus that you just knew we were going to win. I had a final on the day of the women’s championship, like an hour before Gampel opened. I showed up with nothing but a pencil so I could go straight to the game without having to drop my bag in my room. The test went okay.
Why did you become a husky?: I have a neighbor, also named Patrick, who is two years older than me. He’s always been a huge role-model for me and he came here for education as well. I always knew I wanted to teach, and having someone like him come here and love the program so much really influenced me to make this the place I pursue that dream too.
What is your favorite place on campus?: Hands down it’s the little courtyard in between Gentry and the ACES building. When I was applying to Neag I would actually go there and sit to clear my head and relax. I would never dare step inside Gentry though, I couldn’t risk jinxing myself.
What have you been involved in at UConn?: The two biggest things I do here on campus are being an RA in North and being a part of the UConn Future Educators. Being an RA at North these past two years has been nothing but rewarding. It’s taught me so much; the biggest lesson perhaps being that no matter what people think or say about what you do, the work you do is still important. What I mean by that is, and this is no secret, people hate North. For no reason. People hear “I’m an RA at North” and not once have they said anything else besides “oh that’s rough.” But it’s not. The people I work with are amazing. My residents are good people that have built an amazing community. At first this made me so angry to hear all the time. But regardless of what people say I wouldn’t change where I work, and if they can’t see the same potential I do in this place then I feel sorry for them. The second organization I’m apart of is UConn Future Educators (UFE). UFE is the first place I was able to meet and bond with other people who had the same passion for teaching that I did. UFE was the first time I really felt like I had that friend group that is really your family. I would do absolutely anything for my club and the people in it. The passion our members bring to our meetings and events inspires me. When I grow up I want to like them.
What will you miss the most about UConn?: The people. My RA Staff, my UFE members, the cohorts of students in Neag. I feel like I really learned who I am and who I want to be here, largely if not solely due to the kindness of the people around me.
What was your biggest accomplishment while at UConn?: Something not a lot of people know about me, but I am finally comfortable telling them is that I actually lived a lot of my life with anxiety problems, which this past fall started to turn into depression. But because, once again, of the people around me, I was able to get help and get better. I feel in control of my life again and that’s amazing. So getting to the point where I feel comfortable saying that out loud is big for me.
What advice do you have for underclassmen?: You got here because other people believed in you. Your family, your teachers, admissions, etc. But you’re only going to truly thrive and succeed here when you can believe in yourself.
What is one little known fact about you?: On my birthday one year I went to go see Blink-182 (my favorite band) and got into the front row. Mark Hoppus, their bassist, actually wished me a happy birthday himself; which is maybe the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.