As I turn the tassel onto a new chapter in my life, I think about my time here at Rowan University and what a gift it truly has been to be a Prof.

I started here in the Fall of 2018, and my time has been filled with amazing accomplishments but also tremendous heartbreak.  My grandmother had a stroke from an inoperable brain tumor and, while she did survive the stroke, she eventually passed in May of 2019. Being a full-time student during that time was one of the hardest things for me to achieve, but I was able to preserve and make it through.

This leads me to my first point for incoming students. Even when it seems like there is no light shining through the tunnel, there is always a light. You just have to have a little more “grit” and you will reach that light and shine through. 

When I started my journey, I was just a radio, television and film major. However, I branched out and decided to take a few journalism classes and discovered how much I really love writing and telling peoples’ stories.

Some of my favorite pieces that I’ve written have come from talking to people in my class or at my job and hearing stories about their personal lives. If you’re considering taking a class that is outside of your comfort zone, I would definitely recommend it. I’ve always had the mindset of “it’s better to try and fail than to never had tried at all.” The worse that can happen is you don’t like it and you don’t take any more classes in that field or withdraw from it. 

This leads me to my third point. If you’re struggling, for whatever reason, sometimes withdrawing from a class is the best option– if you’re generally feeling overwhelmed by it.

There have been semesters where I thought I could handle five or six classes and then something came up that generally made me feel overwhelmed, so I decided to drop one. Coming back to in-person classes and the adjustments I had to make from out time doing hybrid classes was the biggest challenge I had to overcome. The bright side is that professors are generally understanding and will assist you if you talk to them. 

Even though I’ve withdrawn from classes, there have been classes where I’ve pushed myself and I’ve passed with an “A.” My professors were definitely a huge help in giving me advice on how I could improve in classes. The changes I needed to make on my future projects set me up for success. Also, the Office of Career Advancement was an amazing tool to have when it came to crafting and improving my skills for the workforce. 

Although we might start off at Rowan majoring in one particular field, it’s alright to shift your goals and change your major if you feel like it isn’t giving you any gratification.

When I started in community college, I was a theatre student. After a semester of studying theatre, I decided it wasn’t my goal anymore to be an actress on Broadway. While I still love theatre, it remains something that I do for fun and not professionally.

My final piece of advice that I’ve heard time again is to get involved within the college community. Some of my best memories from college were trips to New York City, sledding down hills at the Blue Mountain Resort and so much more. Making the most out of my college experience is what I was striving for, and looking back now it’s something I can say I’ve achieved. 

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