{"id":216488,"date":"2025-12-31T12:31:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T17:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=216488"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:27:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T19:27:21","slug":"from-first-generation-college-graduate-to-family-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2025\/12\/31\/from-first-generation-college-graduate-to-family-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"From First-Generation College Graduate to Family Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, the education and career paths traveled by Fran Sabaliauskas \u201970 and her daughter, Stephanie Sabaliauskas \u201905 \u201911 MA, are as different as night and day. Fran studied Business Education and went on to teach business at the high school level for 42 years. Stephanie studied Commercial Recreation and Tourism and earned a master\u2019s in Sports Administration. She has spent most of her career at Montclair, currently serving as the University\u2019s manager of Game Operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scratch the surface, however, and you will find more similarities than you might guess in their trajectories \u2013 and in their Montclair experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted to go to college,\u201d Fran tells us. \u201cI started out as a Spanish major, but I found I didn\u2019t want to continue in that direction. I had already taken a few business courses in high school, so I thought I might switch to Business Education.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Still concerned about her decision, Fran attended a camping trip organized by her newly chosen academic department. \u201cI wasn\u2019t even sure who I was supposed to share a cabin with,\u201d she recalls with a laugh. \u201cI ended up canoeing on a lake with the head of the department, who helped me with my direction in life. The professors were inspiring and supportive especially during challenging times \u2013 they kept you on task and encouraged you to persist. As a result, I finished my degree in three and a half years and became the first in my family to graduate from college.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After living on campus for a year in Chapin Hall, Fran moved into off-campus housing. The Student Center became a focal point of her days at the University. \u201cThe campus was so much smaller then,\u201d she says. \u201cWe walked a dirt road to get to the local Dairy Queen!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During her time in Chapin, Fran formed a close circle of friends and became actively involved on campus through her sorority and the business education club. Reflecting on that period, she recalls the deeply personal impact the Vietnam War had on her generation: \u201cI lost a brother to the war,\u201d she says. \u201cMany of us lost loved ones, and we felt it was important to make our voices heard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMontclair changed my life,\u201d Fran adds. \u201cI had a wonderful, 42-year career as a business teacher in Woodbridge Township, first at Woodbridge High School and then at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fran also notes that the courses she took in data processing at Montclair played a huge role in her success as a business educator. \u201cI started teaching just as business education began shifting its focus from machines to computing,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephanie\u2019s story differs a bit. Her priority at the time was sports. \u201cI played club soccer in central NJ,\u201d she explains. \u201cThere were a few players in the league who were already on Montclair\u2019s Women\u2019s Soccer team. They kept telling me how much they enjoyed playing at the collegiate level for Montclair and encouraged me to apply.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabaliauskas family on campus (from L to R): Sam, Fran and Stephanie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI honestly didn\u2019t have any idea what I wanted to study, or even if I wanted to go to college, but I was offered a recruiting visit that turned out to be the deciding factor for me to attend Montclair State University and play for an amazing coach and women\u2019s soccer program,\u201d Stephanie says.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once college life took hold, she fully immersed herself in her studies. \u201cI enjoyed my classes so much,\u201d she says. \u201cThe professors opened my eyes to new worlds and made learning enjoyable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With growing confidence, Stephanie embraced the challenge of choosing a course of study. \u201cI felt I could do anything,\u201d she says. \u201cI even tried a course in geology and thought about a career as a cruise director. Fortunately, I had wonderful advising and mentoring that guided me toward sports management and event planning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time she graduated, Stephanie was a five-time Dean’s List student and was one of 15 students selected as a Presidential Leader on Campus. She <\/span>also made a name for herself as a member of the Women\u2019s Soccer team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he sixth all-time leading scorer in Women’s Soccer program history as well as a Hall of Fame inductee in 2010, Stephanie played for Montclair from 2001-2004. She helped the Red Hawks to three straight New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) championship games. The 2003 NJAC Player of the Year, Stephanie was a three-time All-NJAC selection and finished her career with 95 points. At the end of her career, she finished third in goals scored with 41 and in her four seasons in a Montclair uniform, the Red Hawks posted a 50-24-11 mark. Stephanie\u2019s achievements earned her the Dean of Students Leadership Award and membership in the National Student-Athlete Honor Society. In addition, she was an active member of Montclair’s Student-Athlete Advisory Club. In 2005, Stephanie was named Outstanding Female Student-Athlete by the College Athletic Administrators of New Jersey.<\/span><\/p>\n

After completing her undergraduate degree in 2005, Stephanie began her career in corporate sponsorships and development for the New Jersey\/New York MetroStars Major League Soccer team. Within a year, another opportunity arose and she was back at Montclair as the assistant director for Sports Information & Athletic Promotions as well as a volunteer assistant coach for the women\u2019s soccer program. She built a successful career at Montclair, earning a master\u2019s in the University\u2019s Sports Administration program and rising to the role of Events and Promotions manager.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, Stephanie became the University\u2019s manager of Game Operations, a role that includes managing game day operations for all athletic contests; recruiting, training and supervising game day staff employees; managing contest contracts; and coordinating University Police, Facilities and Housekeeping for all athletic contests. She also is a member of the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4).<\/span><\/p>\n

For her part, Fran remains an involved alumna, attending Homecoming every year and volunteering for her class reunion committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the campus has changed dramatically over the last 50-plus years, both Fran and Stephanie emphasize that the Montclair community\u2019s supportiveness is as strong as ever. \u201cThe staff was always welcoming and helpful,\u201d Fran says. \u201cIf you were willing to work hard, they wouldn\u2019t let you fail.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephanie cannot agree more. \u201cThere was always someone who cared enough to push you forward,\u201d she says. \u201cWe are a family!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fran Sabaliauskas \u201970, the first in her family to graduate from college, used her Montclair degree to forge a successful career in education. A generation later, Stephanie Sabaliauskas \u201905 \u201911 MA followed her mother\u2019s footsteps to Montclair, charting a career that led her to athletics and higher education. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":486,"featured_media":216492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216488","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\/216488","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\/486"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216488"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216541,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216488\/revisions\/216541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}