Jess currently serves as Student Program Coordinator for the Big Idea Center at Pitt’s Innovation Institute. She assists in the organization and execution of events for students through the Big Idea Center as well as the Innovation Living Learning Community. Get to know her better in our Q&A!
When did you join the Big Idea Center?
My first day was Halloween 2018.
What do you like about working at the Big Idea Center?
- Every day is different. I’ve always said that I never wanted to just be stuck behind a desk and this job fits that bill. This is an extremely active and creative environment. You have the opportunity to be there at the beginning of a business that could make a huge difference in the world one day.
What's your favorite memory about working at the Big Idea Center?
- The final day of Randall 2019. I didn’t get to have my large, in-person event this year, so I have to default back to the first time I ran the Randall Family Big Idea Competition. My feet were tired from running across campus several times (I kept a pair of running shoes in my bag) and I ate lunch on the floor of the Charity Randall theater in the middle of band practice and the first tech run of the awards ceremony. At the end of the day, giving away $100,000 to students who had been working so hard over the course of 2 months (probably longer) was totally worth it. The feeling that comes after shutting off the stage lights and literally closing the door on something so huge was euphoric. I hope to be able to do it again. A YouTube Premiere event doesn’t quite have the same weight.
Jess at the 2019 Randall Family Big Idea Competition
School Background:
- I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English/Film Studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016.
Jess's first day as a Pitt student in 2012!
Work Background:
- Where to begin… After graduating from Pitt in 2016, I got a job as a manager at the local movie theater so that I could work throughout the summer as a teacher at a theater school that I am involved in. I was also trying to start a photography/videography business at the time. After a year of trying to make that work, I decided that I needed health insurance and got a job working in housing at Pitt where I stayed for about a year and a half until I found out about a student programs position at the Innovation Institute. I’ve been there ever since. In addition to these jobs, I continue to work in live theater sound design, headshot and portrait photography, and take shifts at my favorite local brewery.
Hobbies:
- Solving Rubik’s cubes of all different shapes and sizes (I have 3x3-9x9 square cubes in addition to several shape variations)
- Mud runs and obstacle course races
- Reading
- Researching and learning about amusement and theme park sciences
- Juggling
- Live theater performance
Jess at a running obstacle course event!
Fun Facts:
- I played Quidditch for 2 years in college and even attended the Quidditch World Cup
- On an old first-grade assignment, I said that I wanted to be a popstar/firefighter when I grew up…yes, both…at the same time
- I was born in Florida and have lived in 5 different states prior to settling in Pittsburgh
- I’ve known that I was going to Pitt since I was 10 years old (photo included) when my dad got hired to work here
- There has been a point where every member of my immediate family was employed by Pitt at the same time
- I have a 3-legged cat named Dae
Jess playing Quidditch during the Quidditch World Cup
Jess's 3-legged cat Dae
Favorite things about Pitt:
- This university has such a rich and interesting history (almost all buildings are historical landmarks)
- Looking at the Cathedral of Learning every day…when I am on campus
- Proximity to the greater city of Pittsburgh, which has an amazing art and food scene
Favorite things in Pittsburgh:
- Live, and affordable, local theater and art scene
- Local restaurants and breweries
- - Mad Mex
- - Stack’d
- - Lulu’s Noodles
- - Roundabout Brewing
- - Hitchhiker Brewing
- - Stick City Brewing (that is where I work on the weekends)
- Three Rivers Arts Festival, supporting local artists
- Sports, I am a huge Penguins fan
- Movies filmed in Pittsburgh, where you can visit shooting locations
- Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Night of the Living Dead
- Adventureland
- The Dark Night Rises (Batman)
- Silence of the Lambs
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette
- Fences
If you'd like to get in touch with Jess, email her here.