{"id":210648,"date":"2022-02-15T17:43:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T17:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=210648"},"modified":"2023-04-05T15:55:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T19:55:26","slug":"daniel-grant-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2022\/02\/15\/daniel-grant-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Grant ’17"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montclair State has launched hundreds of thousands of successful careers over the course of its 114-year history. Sometimes, however, becoming a Red Hawk has an even more profound impact on a student\u2019s life. Such was the case for Daniel Grant \u201917, who studied Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing, Events and Tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no intention of going to college in New Jersey,\u201d Grant says with a laugh. \u201cI also was all over the map in terms of career paths, considering everything from criminal justice to cybersecurity. I was well into the application period when my parents encouraged me to consider a couple of state schools, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montclair State quickly rose to the top of the list. \u201cRight away, I could see myself being part of Montclair State,\u201d he says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t wait to visit again, and the next time I brought a friend from high school with me \u2013 I hadn\u2019t even enrolled yet, and I was already giving my first campus tour!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo other campus I visited came close to the positivity and inclusiveness you find at Montclair State,\u201d Grant continues. \u201cIt is a great place to explore and to decide what you want to do in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant joined the ranks of the Montclair State Admissions Ambassadors at the start of his freshman year, giving him an outlet for his Red Hawk enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

In fact, it was at an Ambassadors gathering that Grant found himself attracted to dance major Rebecca Siper \u201917. \u201cIt was the day before students returned to campus for a new semester,\u201d he recalls. \u201cWe spent the day preparing and later walked as a group from College Hall to Applegate Farms. We met again later in the Admissions Office, helping the staff stuff envelopes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Daniel<\/figure>\n<\/div>
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The two continued to see each other around campus \u2013 snowball fights on the quad, snacks at the Red Hawk Diner, residence hall tours \u2013 and soon they were inseparable. Now married, their time at Montclair State is full of fond memories of their early relationship.<\/p>\n

By the time Grant graduated in 2017, his career was on the fast track. \u201cI went right into the hospitality industry, working for a firm that represents five-star luxury hotels around the world,\u201d he says. \u201cI learned a lot, but I found myself wanting to get back to New Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montclair State again proved to be a transformative force in Grant\u2019s life, when he applied for a marketing position at ENV, an architectural\/interior design firm with offices in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and California. \u201cI interviewed with one of the firm\u2019s owners who remembered me from a scholarship event at Montclair State,\u201d he says. <\/p><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n

One aspect of the ENV role that particularly appealed to Grant was the opportunity to work for the firm that designed the Feliciano School of Business. \u201cI so enjoyed the open collaborative feel of the School of Business when I was a student,\u201d he says. \u201cI got to know the faculty and was able to learn from their experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fascinating to learn how the very design of the building \u2013 the classrooms, the cafes, the labs \u2013 was intended to promote student interaction with each other and with the professors,\u201d Grant adds.<\/p>\n

Grant\u2019s role expanded from marketing to representing the firm\u2019s brand in the market and heading up business development. Today, he is Executive Director, overseeing account management, business development and marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is never a dull moment,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is exciting to see how demographics and real estate markets drive the architecture and design work we do. For example, a town that is projecting growth in the number of residents will need to consider how to adapt its schools and other public facilities to a larger population. My role requires that I learn and understand the community that surrounds a project, and to help the leaders there understand their own scenario. I get to draw on everything I learned at Montclair State, from business to life science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant cultivates a global perspective of his industry through his role as an elected Board Member of CoreNet Global New Jersey, an organization that advances the practice of corporate real estate. His affinity for the needs of communities and the people who live in them, however, is in many ways rooted in his immersion in Montclair State\u2019s diverse and multicultural community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a student, I coordinated school group tours for school districts across the State including work with the University\u2019s EOF (Educational Opportunity Fund) students. \u201cIt was so exciting to be there for a student\u2019s first-ever visit to the campus, or to see a high school student begin to see their future,\u201d he says, noting that he has continued to give career talks for students at area charter and public schools.<\/p>\n

Grant recently spoke with Montclair State students about launching their careers and attends alumni events when he can. He also stays connected to his alma mater through ENV\u2019s involvement in the Red Hawk Open golf outings and athletic sponsorships. \u201cIn addition, over the years ENV has sponsored various scholarships at Montclair State,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe campus is even more amazing than ever,\u201d he observes. \u201cI can\u2019t believe how much it has changed in the last five years. I hope \u2013 and encourage \u2013 students to take advantage of all of it. Get involved, reach out to the community. The connections you make at Montclair State will be valuable in the future. I mean, just look at my experience \u2013 I showed up at a scholarship dinner and a few years later, it led me to my dream career!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Montclair State Paves a Path to Success for Daniel Grant \u201917<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":210650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210648","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\/293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210648"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212679,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210648\/revisions\/212679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}