Nathan Kruth, Union’s senior registration assistant, knows the power of inspiring words.
Which explains why first thing each morning, he takes a Sharpie to the white board in the first-floor lobby of Silliman Hall.
Nathan Kruth, right, with his father, Robert and brother Andrew, during a visit to the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History Museum and Science
The words of Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa or Wayne Gretzky (to name a few) greet Nathan’s upstairs neighbors in Communications and Marketing as well as the dozens of students who come to the registrar’s office each day.
The idea came from one of Nathan’s high school history teachers who would write an inspirational quote on the board each day.
When he arrived at Union, Kruth found an empty canvas.
“I stared at that empty white board and thought, ‘why not use it?’” he said. With the blessing of Sarah Farsad, registrar, he began the routine of searching the web each morning for words of wisdom.
A native of Cedar Park, Texas, a suburb of Austin, Nathan and his family moved to Clifton Park when he was a high school junior.
From Shenendehowa High School, he went on to Binghamton University where he earned a B.A. in Asian and Asian American Studies, and an M.A. with a concentration in Asian history.
Before arriving at Union last year, he did an internship in the transcript processing department at SUNY Central in downtown Albany.
When he’s not helping students through the registration process, Nathan enjoys reading, video games and trading card games.
FIRST APP YOU LOOK AT IN THE MORNING:
Usually I look at Reddit. I like to keep up to date on certain video game developments plus you get peoples real opinions on things rather than simple new blurbs.
ONE BOOK YOU HAVE READ MULTIPLE TIMES:
“The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas. It's a classic revenge story that gets better with each read.
BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED:
My father once told me that "if you're going to do something, do it correctly." I didn't realize till much later how useful those words were. Doing things half-heartedly just accumulates more work for yourself later when you could have just correctly completed the task the first time.
FAVORITE SPOT ON CAMPUS:
I don't really have a favorite spot on campus but I do like looking at the Nott. It has amazing architecture that you wouldn't expect on a college campus in the middle of a town. It definitely looks better than any of the buildings on campus where I went to school at Binghamton.
GO-TO BREAKFAST:
I really like the breakfast burrito. [He recommends Bad-Ass Breakfast Burritos.] Easy to hold while you're doing work or goofing off on your phone.
FAVORITE PODCAST:
Well, it's more a radio show than a Podcast but I listen to a comedy show called “The Bonfire.” It's really funny but the humor is a little racy so I have to listen to it with headphones at work.
ONE SKILL YOU WISH YOU HAD:
I wish I could speed read. I love reading but it takes me forever to get through books. If I could read faster I could enjoy more books.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU:
I am a second-degree black belt in karate. However, I earned it when I was a kid and haven't continued training so I've probably forgotten a good amount of what I was taught. I still have the belt though, somewhere in my closet.
THREE DINNER PARTY GUESTS (living or deceased):
One guest would have to be Scott Lobdell who is my favorite comic book writer of the character Red Hood. It would be cool to talk to him about the character. I would also like to sit down with Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. I feel like talking politics with those two would be both entertaining and enlightening.
FIRST CONCERT:
I enjoy musicals. The first musical I ever saw live was “A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.” It is still my favorite musical to this day even though I have only seen it one time.