{"id":205569,"date":"2017-03-31T19:48:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T19:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?page_id=205569"},"modified":"2017-03-31T19:48:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T19:48:19","slug":"pooja-patel-12","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/pooja-patel-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Pooja Patel ’12"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pooja<\/figure>\n

\u201cMy experience at Montclair was one that I will cherish forever. If someone asked me of my fondest memories, there is no way I could write about them in just a few paragraphs.\u201d That\u2019s because when she was a student here, Pooja Patel \u201912 did it all!<\/p>\n

Freshman year, Patel secured a job in the Office of Information Technology and joined the Indian Culture Club, a Student Government organization. The following year, she was on the group\u2019s executive board. But that was only the beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoon I was an Academic Assistant, then a Community Assistant for the freshmen of Bohn Hall the following year.\u201d By senior year, Patel was working in the Dean of Students\u2019 office and serving as the Executive Treasurer of the Student Government Association (SGA), all while juggling a major in Accounting and concentrations in Accounting, Finance and Management. \u201cAt the time, it all seemed so difficult, but I look back now and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.\u201d
When Patel graduated, she was ready for the challenges her career would bring. She\u2019d already had to work hard, budget time and put in long hours. When she accepted her dream job at a Big Four accounting firm, Patel was ready to give it her all. \u201cI know if it wasn’t for Montclair State University, I would not have come this far in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

But her success isn\u2019t just a result of hard work. While Patel immersed herself in the Montclair State community, she built connections. \u201cFrom the career center resources to participation in student activities I built my networking skills, which played a big role in me landing my dream job,\u201d she said. \u201cI cannot stress the importance of networking, no matter which career path you choose to follow.\u201d She watched classmates finish their degrees without taking the opportunity to network and how it cost them later. \u201cStrong networking skills is what will differentiate you in a room full of individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pooja Patel is still an active member of the Montclair State community. \u201cI simply could not leave the place that molded my future,\u201d she said. She\u2019s part of the Recent Alumni Network and a member of the SGA Affinity Circle. The SGA Affinity Circle is a group that raises money to offer to current SGA students as scholarships. \u201cWe understand that it is extremely difficult to manage school work and be a part of an organization. This is the alumni’s way of giving back because we have all been in that position during our time at Montclair.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy experience at Montclair was one that I will cherish forever. If someone asked me of my fondest memories, there is no way I could write about them in just a few paragraphs.\u201d That\u2019s because when she was a student here, Pooja Patel \u201912 did it all! Freshman year, Patel secured a job in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11,"parent":0,"menu_order":51,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-205569","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/205569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/205569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205571,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/205569\/revisions\/205571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}