{"id":14688,"date":"2015-06-08T15:49:33","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T19:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/news\/article.php?ArticleID=14688"},"modified":"2015-06-08T15:49:33","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T19:49:33","slug":"14688_stepping-out-into-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/2015\/06\/08\/14688_stepping-out-into-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping Out into the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether they graduated in January or May, members of the Class of 2015 left Montclair State University with the skills they needed to step out and make their mark on the world by joining the workforce or furthering their education.
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According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job Outlook 2015<\/em> report, U.S. employers will be hiring 8.3 percent more new graduates this year than last year. Red Hawks are already benefitting from this upswing by landing jobs in their fields.
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Getting Down to Business<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Business graduates are among those most in demand with employers, as Jaclyn Shoop and Manuela Lopez discovered.
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Shoop, who received her MBA in May, will begin working as a tax consultant with Deloitte on her birthday in July. School of Business Career Services director Diane Freedman encouraged her to apply for the job listed on My Jobs, the School of Business career site.
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\u201cMy education has prepared me for this job,\u201d says Shoop. \u201cMy professors and the curriculum challenged me, but facing and excelling at this challenge gives me the confidence that I will excel at Deloitte.\u201d
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After earning her bachelor\u2019s degree in three-and-a-half years, Lopez has already started work as an implementation associate at JPMorgan Chase.
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\u201cI\u2019m responsible for coordinating all aspects of the setup of cash management products and services for commercial banking clients,\u201d explains Lopez, who interned for the company last summer. Her internship and her education were instrumental in her landing the job. \u201cOne thing I was proud to talk about in my interviews was Montclair State and how prepared it has made me for my first full-time job,\u201d she says.
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In Production
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School of Communication and Media graduates get the training they need to land jobs in highly competitive fields. Nina Baratti joined local news company SNJ in February as a reporter, after finishing her coursework a semester early.
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Her job is varied: she sets up her interviews, goes alone to the shoots, does all the camera work and lighting, edits and exports her stories onto the SNJ website.
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\u201cMontclair State taught me each of these individual skills. My professors constantly stressed that you will be on your own and that it\u2019s vital to know each and every skill,\u201d Baratti says. \u201cThey were right!\u201d
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Television and Digital Media major Steven Melone began working part-time at WPIX in Manhattan as a per diem engineer just four days after completing his coursework last December. \u201cI\u2019m happy to be working in a field I enjoy,\u201d he says.
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Melone says the University paved the way to his job. \u201cI was able to hone my craft by having so many opportunities on different projects,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd the community of students allowed for a great camaraderie and fantastic environment for learning, especially in production.\u201d
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Broadcasting major Brianna Seneca, who also finished in January, recently became a video\/media archives assistant with NFL Films in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. \u201cThe coursework and training I received definitely prepared me for this job,\u201d she says. Equally important were outside opportunities, like her internship in the New York Giants production department. \u201cI was on the field during every home game at MetLife Stadium, assisted the cameramen, logged footage and helped with TV shows that aired on MSG+.\u201d
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Many Ways to Serve
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Montclair State has long prepared teachers and human services professionals for successful careers. In June, Shavany Gonzalez, a Family and Child Studies major from Long Branch, New Jersey, joined Water and Sims Employment Services, Inc. As an employment specialist and job coach, she will help adults with disabilities find and keep employment.
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\u201cIt was my internship site and they asked if I\u2019d be interested in working there after graduation,\u201d she explains.
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Niobel Torres has been teaching ninth grade special education biology at Livingston High School since January. She values the education she received while earning dual certification in the University\u2019s Master of Arts in Teaching program in Biology and as a Teacher of Students with Disabilities with a focus on inclusive iSTEM.
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\u201cEvery day I\u2019m able to implement strategies my professors taught me,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s been great to see my students succeed. My Montclair State education has let me give them the tools they need to succeed.\u201d
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Philosophy major David Glinbizzi was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in May. \u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed solving problems and that is a very large part of being a leader in the U.S. Army,\u201d he explains. While he credits Philosophy and Religion department professors David Benfield, Dorothy Rogers and Kirk McDermid with taking an interest in his coursework and helping him to shape and expand his critical thinking and problem-solving skills, he also feels the ROTC program has prepared him for future challenges.
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A Firm Foundation
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The job outlook for science majors is bright, as Geoscience major Steven Pepe has learned. He began working part-time with Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers in Manhattan as an investigative geologist and has been working full-time since graduation. The firm has provided structural designs for foundations on such projects as the Freedom Tower and CitiField.
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\u201cI\u2019m installing and monitoring geologic equipment like surveying stations and seismographs in the field, supervising bore extractions from construction sites and performing lab tests,\u201d Pepe says. \u201cMontclair State prepared me well by giving me hands-on experience with the geologic equipment I\u2019m now working with in the field and in the lab.\u201d
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The Write Stuff
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English major Lee Davis moved from part-time to full-time employee at Buyers Lab Inc. after graduating in May. \u201cAs research editor, I establish and maintain relationships with software vendors who update me on their products. With that information, I create editorial content such as blog posts and feature articles,\u201d Davis explains. \u201cMontclair State sharpened my writing and research skills. Without the advice and criticism from my professors, I wouldn\u2019t be the writer I am today.\u201d<\/span>
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Getting Smarter
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A number of graduates will pursue their studies further in graduate programs. Psychology major Serena Gattuso will head to Columbia University to pursue a master\u2019s degree in social work. \u201cI knew I wanted a job in which I would be working directly with people,\u201d she explains. \u201cI want to go into clinical practice with families and children, specifically those dealing with chronic illness.\u201d
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Gattuso feels that as one of the nation\u2019s top-ranked social work programs, Columbia will give her a diverse set of options. She says, \u201cI definitely believe my experience at Montclair State prepared me well for the post-graduate experience. I made great connections with my professors, had opportunities to do research and serve as a teaching assistant and learned leadership skills.\u201d<\/span>
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In May, Geoscience major Mariya Guzner began a research assistantship at the University of Minnesota\u2019s College of Biosystems and Bioproducts Engineering, where she is pursuing a master\u2019s degree in the Natural Resource Science and Management program with a focus on Forest Hydrology and Watershed Management. \u201cI\u2019m excited because it\u2019s going to be a lot of traveling and field work, and the program is one of the top-ranked in the nation,\u201d she notes. \u201cI\u2019ve been hoping to work in water resource science, so this is fantastic for me.\u201d
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Guzner feels that her participation in a student-faculty research project, the Research Experience for Undergraduates and the Science Honors Innovation Project, has prepared her for post-graduate success.<\/span>
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Chelsea Durocher will participate in the intensive, nine-day Friends Beyond Borders Teacher\u2019s Social Justice Reality Tour in the Dominican Republic. The Sociology major and Dean of Students Award-winner looks forward to meeting with grassroots organizations working for global equality.
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\u201cThe program provides such beautiful perspective and growth for a young leader and world-changer like me,\u201d she says. \u201cThis opportunity could not have come at a better time in my educational journey!\u201d
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Making Music<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

John J. Cali School of Music students Katherine Sanchez and Carlos Bandera are furthering their studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.
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In pursuing a Master of Music degree in composition, Bandera is studying with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts. \u201cThis is the kind of community a musician should be in,\u201d he says, noting that his four years at Montclair State gave him the opportunity to have a career in music.
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Sanchez will be earning a master\u2019s degree in ethnomusicology. \u201cI\u2019m interested in ethnographic fieldwork and trying to understand why every group of people creates music in their own way,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been very fortunate to have had incredibly supportive advisors, professors and mentors at Montclair State, which really did prepare me for postgraduate study.\u201d
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Learning to Lead
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\u201cDance is a culmination of discipline and knowledge cultivated over decades,\u201d says Dance major Heather Pollak, who has been accepted by Shenandoah University\u2019s master\u2019s program in Performing Arts Leadership and Management. \u201cShenandoah cultivates the kind of meaningful work and professional growth I have established at Montclair State. Its program will allow me to dedicate myself to a vibrant cause in the arts that I deeply believe in.\u201d
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English major Doron Bryant will attend Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, in the fall to study for a master\u2019s degree in Organizational Leadership. \u201cI\u2019ve been offered a graduate assistantship in the office of student transition, where I\u2019ll organize freshman and transfer orientation and plan workshop programs for students throughout the year,\u201d he says.
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Bryant transferred to Montclair State in fall 2013 from Essex County College. \u201cThe professors I\u2019ve had these last two years have been phenomenal,\u201d he recalls. \u201cWords cannot express how much Montclair State means to me. It has made me the person I am today. I leave here knowing I can accomplish every one of my goals, no matter what the obstacles are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jobs and prestigious graduate programs await Montclair State 2015 graduates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":206535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-153_music","category-261_career-services","category-190_theatre-dance","category-235_school-of-communication-and-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}