January is National Hobby Month - an opportunity to celebrate the unique ways Team Tobyhanna finds joy and fulfillment in their personal lives.
For Management and Program Support Assistant Jennifer Szklanny of the Resource Management Directorate, being a cat lady isn’t a stereotype – it’s a superpower!
What began as a chance encounter with a stray black cat on the street when she was 18 has grown into a lifelong passion. Szklanny claims the cats always seem to find her even when she is not looking.
“I found Ozzi in the street when I was a teenager,” Jen recalls. “We had a bond that is hard to explain. She stayed with me through countless hardships, traveled to Italy and back with me, and became my soul cat. She is the inspiration behind my rescue efforts.”
Jennifer has dedicated herself to rescuing and fostering cats over the last 20 years. She calls this chapter of her life a “journey of rescue and love”. The most valuable lesson Jennifer has learned over two decades of rescue: patience.
Szklanny’s previous experience in veterinary medicine and as a reiki practitioner help her to rehabilitate cats with significant medical challenges that may have otherwise been euthanized. She currently cares for 17 of her own cats, along with one dog named Remy — plus countless others awaiting adoption. Despite the challenges that come with rescue work, she remains energized by the positive connections she sees every day.
“I’ve developed many meaningful relationships. There are some unfortunate incidents and bad people,” she says. “However, people are inherently good, and I try to inspire them instead of drain them. People help cats, cats help people, cats help cats, and people help people — it all comes full circle.”
Szklanny aims to empower potential adopters through education. She encourages anyone considering getting involved in cat rescue to volunteer and foster and her top tip for new cat owners is clear: “Spay, neuter, and vaccinate. It makes all the difference.”
When IT Specialist Todd Costantino isn’t steering members of Team Tobyhanna in the right direction to solve their technological issues, you can often find him behind the wheel of his Ford Mustang at an autocross event. Costantino describes autocross as navigating a track laid out with cones racing against yourself and other competitors for the best time.
Costantino began taking part in autocross about four years ago, but auto racing has run in his blood all his life with his grandfather having been a local stock car driver, his father a licensed formula driver, and his brother a drag racer.
Although Costantino said his first time behind the wheel was very nerve-racking, the unique mix of excitement and calm that comes with it kept him coming back for more.
“You can free your mind when you’re out there on the track. There’s definitely an adrenaline factor - it’s just you and the car. It’s that whole cliché of the melding of you and the car, and it becomes natural. It gets to a point where you’re not even thinking about it,” said Costantino.
Costantino said his autocross group’s camaraderie and genuine care for one another is refreshing and is another reason why he’s passionate about his hobby.
“There’s a special camaraderie we share. When you get there as a beginner, there are people there who will help you who are regional champions. They will actually ride in the car with you and tell you what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. If someone’s car breaks down, you’ll have four other fellow racers trying to help you out.”
Perhaps one of the most-recognizable faces on the depot due to manning the IT walk-up desk, Costantino is one of Team Tobyhanna’s go-to experts when a device isn’t working. Costantino finds similarities in his hobby and his work, saying each offer an opportunity for continuous improvement.
“There is discipline to autocrossing, and there are techniques like shuffle steering, heel toe, and shifting techniques you have to pick up in order to do it correctly. You’re practicing a discipline just like I practice at work. In IT, I have to understand this person has this problem, and I need to study what that problem is before I get that person to the walk-up so I know what I’m doing by the time they get there. I’m constantly honing my abilities at work, and I’m also constantly honing my abilities when I’m out on the track.”
Costantino also enjoys racing remote control cars, playing bass, and spending time with his family.
For some students, story writing assignments throughout grade school may not be very memorable. For others, it develops into lifelong passion for crafting unique worlds through the power of words.
The latter is the case for Megan Haikes from the Resource Management Directorate who, while in elementary school, was tasked with writing a story detailing her summer. She said it was right then and there that she realized she had a talent for stringing words together in such a way that people enjoy.
Upon graduation, Haikes wanted to continue developing her writing skill. She went on to graduate from Marywood University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Wilkes University with a master's in creative writing with a concentration in fiction and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing.
Haikes said writing provides her with an outlet to simultaneously flex her creative muscle and relax from whatever stresses might’ve occurred throughout her day.
“Writing for me is it the creative outlet people often need, especially in a more corporate or business-like career,” said Haikes. “It gives me that space to just kind of let my brain wander and go to different places, unplug from reality, and escape.”
Haikes’ preferred genre of writing is supernatural fiction, often incorporating things such as ghosts, vampires, and werewolves into her work. When in search of inspiration, she said she often searches the world around her for unique scenarios and situations.
“Writers get their ideas from various types of inspiration. I tend to look at things like current events or some strange idea or scenario,” said Haikes. “For example, my master’s thesis was spawned from having seen a cemetery for sale. I thought ‘Who would buy a cemetery?’ and then it just trailed off and it grew into a novel length type story. You could find inspiration anywhere but it's finding that one little interesting spark that gets you excited.”
Haikes described her writing process as a mix between that of what are known as “plotters” and “pantsers.” Plotters essentially write their whole book out in beats and have it plotted out as the name suggests whereas pantsers write with seemingly no end in sight.
“I'll often get an idea and I'll just start writing,” said Haikes. “It's kind of exciting because I don't know where the story is going, but also frustrating for the very same reason. That is because I know I have to get to that endpoint somehow and without any type of real outline, it can be a challenge.”
Haikes said that currently, writing for her is done purely out of passion but is open to attempting a wider release of her work one day.
“The vulnerability of then putting your work out there is terrifying, but at the end of the day I would like people to be able to read what I have written because I believe there are things that people can relate to in my writing, much like the way I've related to other things and what other people have written,” said Haikes. “That first step of putting yourself out there, is the one of the hardest, if not the biggest hurdle, with being a creative person.”
Alongside a passion for writing often comes a passion for reading, which Haikes said she spends a lot of time doing. While not necessarily having a favorite, she said she’s been influenced by the works of authors such as Jodi Picoult, Lori Halse Anderson, and Stephen King. She recalled Anderson’s 1999 novel “Speak” as being particularly influential for her.
“Anderson’s novel ‘Speak’ was the first book that I read for my own private enjoyment and that made me realize that there are stories to tell that resonate with me or resonate in a different way that's not just the required reading of the time,” said Haikes.
Whether she’s creating stories herself or digging into the work of another, Haikes said she knows she can always rely on a good book to help her relax.
“Reading and writing go hand in hand. I tend to do a little bit more reading than writing, but both are my go-to in stressful situations,” said Haikes.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters.
About 3,200 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to deliver integrated C5ISR weapon systems, business systems, and medical sustainment to enable full spectrum combat operations at the point of need.
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