Meet. . . Leslie Stricker, Professor of History and Humanities at Sinclair, holding Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in History.
Why She’s Interesting… Leslie Stricker lived in Kettering, Ohio for eight years before moving to rural Kentucky. In Williamstown, Kentucky Stricker discovered that she could love both city and country lifestyles.
Stricker described growing up in Kentucky as fun. She enjoyed the land and liked her unusual pets which included a pet hawk and a pet skunk. Although she found ways to connect with nature, she still longed for a stronger connection to city life. According to Stricker, it took an hour and 15 minutes to even reach a movie theater from her home.
“It was a completely different lifestyle moving from what I considered the city to way out in the country,” Stricker said. “I grew to love [the country] too, so I’m lucky enough now that I’ve had both lifestyles and I appreciate both of them.”
Stricker has chosen the city life because she likes the convenience aspects and being close to the arts. She sometimes misses the country but has found a way to bring them together.
“I miss the woods. I miss the animals being around. We have a house now that goes down to a creek, and we have deer and all kinds of animals. I love the peacefulness,” said Stricker.
Growing up and going through high school was a busy time for Stricker. When she was in kindergarten, she decided to be a kindergarten teacher. In first grade, she decided to be a first grade teacher. This happened every year of her schooling career all the way through college, which is how Stricker decided to become a college professor.
In high school, Stricker described herself as over-involved. She participated in many activities; such as, band, theater, gymnastics, dance, and color guard. She contemplated stage acting as a career. Stricker said her involvement in activities helped her become the person she is today.
“That’s how I discovered who I was, by trying different things; and if you don’t like it, don’t do it. Give it a go,” said Stricker. She suggested that all college students should get involved in any activity that will help them find their niche.
“That’s the great thing about college—so many different people from different backgrounds and different interests come together and find out who they are, who they want to be. It’s terrific,” Stricker said.
Stricker has found herself as someone who loves history, teaching and students. She entered college with an undeclared major, chose history and never changed it. She also has not forgotten her inner actress—in fact, she uses her inner actress to teach.
Stricker explained, “The actress part of me, the person who wants to be on stage, has all these great stories to tell that really happened! And it’s like, ‘I can’t wait to tell you these amazing stories that really, really happened!’”
Stricker has been happily married for 32 years and has three adult children. Now, Stricker feels successful as a mother. She draws upon memories of her recently deceased mother-in-law, Pat, as inspiration for making it through life with adult children. Stricker described her mother-in-law as amazing, sweet, good, kind, strong, and “everything that [Stricker] wanted to be as a person.”
Stricker’s mother-in-law often gave advice to Stricker. Stricker and Pat were close. Based upon Stricker’s life experience, which her mother-in-law undoubtedly influenced, Stricker has advice of her own.
“Stay in school. Just keep trying. You have a goal, you can do it. You’ll never regret getting a degree. There are other things in your life that you might regret having done, or decisions that you made—you’ll never regret getting a degree. They can’t take it away from you,” said Stricker.