\u201cI look at my time at Montclair State and remember to always keep moving forward,\u201d says Lauren Charles \u201914 when looking back at her time as a student. Charles currently works for Edison Research, a market research and political polling company, where she is a Manager of Research. She graduated from Montclair State in 2014 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science and a minor in legal research and public administration. As an undergrad, Charles pictured herself working in her current field but did not expect it to be in New Jersey. \u201cSince I majored in political science, I assumed my career path would bring me to Washington D.C., but I was pretty lucky to find something so close to home,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Charles credits Montclair State for exposing her to the political process in ways that help her respond to challenges that she faces at work each day. As an undergrad, she was offered many opportunities that helped her further pursue her interests as a political science major. In an internship with Professor Sal Anderton \u201995, she was given the opportunity to meet with state officials and talk about the legislative happenings in Trenton. As part of a course called Campaign Politics, she traveled to various political party headquarters in New Jersey to assist on real local campaigns. Through The Center for Career Services, Charles was able to secure a public relations internship for a political website called VoteTocracy.com in her senior year. Upon graduation, she also used The Center for Career Services to land a position at the same company which she still works for today.<\/p>\n
While attending Montclair State, she had the opportunity to live on campus all four years and take advantage of the different residence halls that were offered. These included Freeman Hall, the Heights, Hawks Crossing and the Village. If not in her dorm room, you could find her in the Student Center with her fellow Phi Sigma Sigma sisters or at the Rathskeller for dinner on late Sunday nights. As a student, her day consisted of classes in Dickson Hall and stopping for a cordon bleu sandwich at Caf\u00e9 Diem or a Vince Lombardi at the Student Center before heading to the library to study for finals. Charles also recalls attending the \u201cPrice is Right\u201d at the Student Recreation Center each year and having the opportunity to spin the wheel.<\/p>\n
Aside from being a member of Phi Sigma Sigma, she was also active on campus by being part of the Residence Hall Association. \u201cWhen I moved into the Heights I joined the Residence Hall Association to help address the needs of my fellow residents within my building,\u201d she says. Charles also maintained engaged on campus by working as a service assistant. Like many other students, being able to work on campus helped her balance school while also maintaining a part-time job.<\/p>\n
Charles recalls two professors that left a mark on her academic career. Professor Julia Wagner, who taught First Year Writing, \u201cshowed me a prose, professionalism and work ethic that I still try to match,\u201d she says. Dr. Brigid Harrison influenced and continues to influence her life both academically and professionally. \u201cProfessor Harrison is always being quoted in political news articles and I brag to my colleagues by telling them that she was my Professor at Montclair State,\u201d says Charles. She enjoyed the courses she had with Dr. Harrison because of her knowledge and experience on both local and national politics. \u201cNot only is she a great professor but she is also a great role model for any young woman studying politics,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
As a Red Hawk, Charles had many memorable experiences. However, one that she will never forget was being able to see her favorite band, New Found Glory, perform on campus. The concert also gave her the opportunity to befriend other freshmen in her residence hall who also had similar tastes in music. \u201cWe still talk about how it\u2019s one of the best concerts we\u2019ve ever been to,\u201d says Charles.<\/p>\n
To current undergraduates, she offers the following advice: \u201cYou still have many more great things to achieve, so stay enthusiastic and get out there!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Charles credits Montclair State for exposing her to the political process in ways that help her respond to challenges that she faces at work each day, and advises current students to stay enthusiastic about their goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":207119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207107"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209627,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207107\/revisions\/209627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}