Peggy Hinsman's Blog

About Peggy Hinsman

Academic & Professional Info:

I have lived in Eugene, Oregon since the summer of 1989.  I grew up in the suburban area of Pittsburgh, PA – Pleasant Hills, had to attend Catholic school from Kindergarten through 8th grade, but luckily got to go to public school in High School (Thomas Jefferson High School).  My favorite classes in high school were Geometry, Trigonometry, Physics, AP Physics, Basic Programming, FORTRAN Programming and Woodworking.  Another of my favorite activities in high school was getting my private pilot’s license when I was 16.  After I got my license, my father encouraged me to take lessons on aerobatics (loops, rolls, etc.).  Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep my license going when I went to college because I didn’t have access to a car or extra money to rent an airplane.  My focus in college was to do very well academically.  For the first two years of college, I attended a branch campus of Penn State in Erie, PA – Behrend College, because this was a much smaller college, which made the classes much smaller and a closer connection to professors.  The last two years I attended Penn State’s main campus in College Town, PA and got my Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.  I also received an undergraduate research fellowship to do research for the Navy in the Applied Research Lab at Penn State.  I was also in the Engineering Honor Society the Aerospace Engineering Honor Society and graduated with a GPA higher than 3.5.

I decided to attend Graduate School after getting my undergraduate degree.  I went to Cornell University and studied Mechanics of the Solar System in the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Department in the College of Engineering.  After a year and a half of grad school, I was a bit disappointed with how little of connections I had with professors at Cornell.  I quit and received the job of being an Admissions Officer and Academic Adviser for Cornell’s College of Engineering.

In the summer of 1988 was my first experience in the Pacific Northwest.  I drove across the country and back and took my youngest sister with me at that time, who as 12.  I was so amazed by the Pacific Northwest and moved here the next summer.  I enrolled at the UO the fall of 1990 to get my secondary teaching certificate in Physics and Advanced Math.  I taught Physics, Chemistry and Principals of Mechanics at Crow High School for two years and was also their technology coordinator.  I took a year break when my first son was born and Lane ESD asked me to apply for one of the tech positions.  I did and I got it.  I worked there until 1998… took another break for my second son.

Since 2005 I have been a tech employee for the Eugene School District in Network Services.

Interests:

Here are my interests:

• Playing Traditional Irish music on fiddle and low D whistle
• Playing Renaissance and Medieval music on tenor and soprano recorder
• Music Theory
• International Travel (have been to Canada many times, Greece three times, Italy once, Ireland once and Costa Rica once)
• Learning everything I can about Ireland, including the Irish language, where 40% of my European heritage originated (the highest percentage)
• Gourmet Cooking
• Brewing Beer
• Glass Fusing
• Making Soap
• Woodworking
• Hiking
• Camping
• Whitewater Rafting
• Kayaking
• Canoeing
• Backpacking
• Photography
• Watching the Perseid Meteor Shower and Comets
• DIY home improvements
• Organic vegetable and fruit berry gardening