Poised for Success

In the academic year 2017-2018, Montclair State University conferred 5,309 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in science and mathematics, humanities and the social sciences, business, the arts, education and nursing. Exhibiting an extraordinary level of talent and achievement across a wide range of disciplines and academic majors, members of the Class of 2018 now head off to begin full-time jobs, graduate or professional schools and prestigious fellowships. They will follow their passions, take on entrepreneurial endeavors and pursue dreams.

From Classroom to Workplace

Members of the Class of 2018 are workplace ready. Television and Digital Media graduate Shane O’Neill says the training he received at the School of Communication and Media will help him smoothly transition into his new role as an associate producer at NBC Left Field, a new experimental video unit.

After graduation, Journalism major Madison Glassman will be moving across the country to Eugene, Oregon, where she has accepted a position as a reporter at ABC affiliate KEZI News. Glassman was a member of the School of Communication and Media team that visited Puerto Rico in March to cover the island’s recovery from Hurricane Maria. “I realized you truly have to love storytelling for this job – and I can honestly say I do,” she says.

Feliciano School of Business graduate Massimo Pirrone will also be heading west after graduation. He has accepted a full-time position with MGM in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Atlantic Health System RN Erin Fitzmaurice is a member of the first cohort of students in the Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) program to receive her BSN from the School of Nursing at Montclair State. “The advanced classwork has given me that extra education to think deeper and outside the box and help patients better,” she says. “I can look at a patient and take what I’ve learned in the classroom and apply it directly to the situation.”

Continuing Education

Montclair State graduates are fully prepared for the challenges and opportunities of graduate education, whether they pursue advanced academic and professional degrees at Montclair State or other universities.

At age 16, Amir Botros came to the United States with his family to escape the political turmoil in his native Egypt. A double major in Jurisprudence, Law and Society and Political Science who is on the path to becoming a U.S. citizen, Botros will be attending Rutgers University Law School in the fall. While a student, Botros worked with Montclair State’s Civic and Voter Engagement Office and the Andrew Goodman Foundation to help register students to vote.

Dual BS/MS degree student Erika Bernal received her BS in May. As a recipient of the prestigious Tibor T. Polgar Fellowship program grant, she will be spending her summer conducting research for her master’s thesis on the ability of oysters to filter and/or digest microplastic pollutants. After collecting oysters from along the Hudson River, she will then feed and analyze them at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lab in Sandy Hook.

Fulbright Fellow

University graduates compete successfully on a national level. As an undergraduate at Montclair State, Linguistics major Tiffany Soares was awarded a James Patterson Teacher Education Scholarship. In May, she received her MAT with Teaching English as a Second Language concentration. This September, she will travel to Spain’s La Rioja region as a finalist in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, where she will immerse herself in Spanish culture and gain a better understanding of the challenges facing students who are learning English as a second language.

Outstanding Opportunities

While not every student has finalized postgraduate plans, many have received awards and accolades – and opportunities – that put them on track for career success.

In June, Tevin Johnson will be among the Montclair State student dancers from the BFA in Dance program chosen to perform at the Kennedy Center during the American College Dance Association National College Dance Festival in Washington, D.C. While his postgraduate plans aren’t set yet, Johnson hopes to launch a career as a performer. “I’ve been auditioning for a few places, just trying to get my foot in the door,” he says.

Public Relations major Sabrina Araullo was selected by the New Jersey Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) as the 2018 recipient of the coveted PRSA NJ Future Public Relations Professional of the Year Award, which recognizes a graduating senior’s understanding of and commitment to the public relations profession. As a senior, Araullo served as the president of the University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and as a co-director of the University’s new student-run PR firm, Hawk Communication.

Nutrition and Food Sciences major Rebecca Yellin is a community-minded entrepreneur. A co-founder of the Montclair State chapter of the Food Recovery Network that rescues edible surplus food from campus dining services that would otherwise be discarded and donates it to hunger-fighting community partners, Yellin was also the recipient of an LDNY scholarship from Les Dames D’Escoffier, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in food, fine beverages and hospitality. After graduation, she will begin a New York-Presbyterian Hospital Dietetic Internship.