Vincent Pruchnick

As a high school student in Queens, Vincent Pruchnick was looking for a college that would allow him to explore the interests he had in nursing, education and theatre. When he heard about Sage from his guidance counselor he felt a connection was made.  “They were strong in all three areas.”

Today, Vincent, part of the class of 2022, has chosen Childhood Education as his major and he’s active in the Theatre Institute at Sage, both acting and working on sound design.  

But while Sage has turned out to be just the right place for Vincent, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a daunting challenge to face. 

“Coming here from Queens was doing a complete 180,” he says. “Queens is a melting pot for people from all around the world.”

He admits that at the start of his freshman year he went home a lot on weekends.

But in time he was won over to the Sage experience. He came to feel like Troy was a little like Brooklyn. He appreciated the beauty of the campus. And he started to feel like he’d become part of a community. He had his friends from his education classes and friends from theatre. “And everybody was there to help you.”

A moment that continues to impress Vincent was when Dean of Students Stacy Gonzalez, after only meeting him once, saw him one day on campus and called to him by name.

“Sage is a place that makes you feel like you’re not alone,” he says. “You know that if you have a problem there’s someone ready to help you.”

When Vincent became a resident assistant he said he did it at first for the economic benefits. But it wasn’t long before he understood that it helped him learn to be a leader. “It also became about the connections I made,” he says.

The word connection comes up again and again when Vincent talks about his college experience. Through his professors in the Esteves School of Education and his job as a teaching assistant at a local middle school he feels like he’s made many possible connections into the regional educational community.  Professor Kelly Smith is always trying to connect with him to make sure he’s doing well. 

“Everybody here wants you to succeed,” he says. “It’s actually pretty amazing.”