Louis DiGirolamo ’22
I consider my travels to be my own form of professional development. I seize any opportunity that allows me to include anecdotes, stories, or my own photographs from my own trips in the classroom. Currently, I teach AP United States History and when I was teaching about D-Day, I told the story of how the Allied Forces landed in Normandy through my own photos I took on my travels. I had students look at images from 1944 side by side to images of my images from my trip in 2018. (Read More)
Jillian Farley ’20
TCNJ was the first school that I visited, and before getting to campus, I didn’t want to go there because I thought it was too close to home. However, after visiting, I fell in love with the campus atmosphere and was very impressed by all of the academic and extracurricular activities offered. I ended up comparing every school I visited afterwards back to TCNJ, and that’s when I realized it was the right fit for me! (Read More)
Benito Gonzales ’16
Along the way, I have had many rewarding experiences that have fulfilled me and encouraged me to keep working hard. Whenever students have told me over the years that they felt cared for and noticed that everyone felt included, or that they had never looked at a part of history or an issue in a particular way before, I always feel a sense of pride that my planning and room made them feel this way. (Read More)
Jane Kim ’22
Being a History major absolutely helped me prepare for my success in law school because it provided me with a strong foundation in key skills, particularly in writing, reading, and analytical skills. By being able to go into law school with well-developed core skills, I definitely did not struggle as hard as I could have. I was able to pick out the logical arguments much quicker in my readings and my strong writing skills helped me to articulate my arguments in a concise and digestible way. (Read More)
Carly Phillips ’21
My advice for someone coming to TCNJ to study History and Secondary Education would be to get involved, whether it be through extracurriculars, working, or volunteering. While classes and clinicals help prepare for the classroom, outside experiences can also aid in this, and make teacher candidates more well-rounded and hireable. (Read More)
Izzy Riddick ’23
Much of my passion for history is intertwined by my passion for sociology. I love social history, I love understanding the ways in which human society has evolved, what norms created certain events, what events created certain social expectations, everything! The thing I like to encourage is to make sure some part of your degree, whether it’s a major, another major, a minor, or another minor is something you care genuinely about even if you’re not certain how you’re going to use it (yet). (Read More)
Steven Rodriguez ’16
It wasn’t long after arriving at TCNJ and enrolling in Professor Robert McGreevey’s Craft of History course and Professor John Karras’s World History course that I knew I wanted to be a historian. Both of their classes fascinated me. (Read More)
Kelli Sulsona ’21
One of the most influential experiences I had within my extracurricular involvements at TCNJ was being the president of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society. As president, I became even more involved in the history department, worked closely with professors and staff members, and fostered connections among my peers. Some of my proudest accomplishments as president were developing more social events for networking among history students, providing research writing workshops for members, and setting up tutoring connections for younger students within the history department. (Read More)
Justine Thomas ’17
I was someone who knew from a very early age I liked history, but was not 100% certain at first that it was the right major for me. It wasn’t until speaking to several history majors at a few college open houses that I realized how much I could do with a history degree – and that I didn’t have to pursue a secondary education degree for history to be a worthwhile major.(Read More)
Kathryn Wertheimer ’17
When I was applying for colleges I wasn’t certain what career path I wanted to pursue, but I did know that I loved history and I was happiest when I was studying it. I decided to major in history and explore other subject areas by picking up minors (for me, that was sociology and Russian studies) (Read More)
Dominick Zarrillo ’19
While I worked hard at community college, being a transfer student motivated me to work even harder. I was determined in making the most of my time at TCNJ and take advantage of all the opportunities available. For this, I believe I succeeded, and I accomplished more than I could have ever imagined would have been possible (Read More)