Anilsa Nunez had only lived in the United States for three years before she started at New Paltz, and the transition to college life was not easy. “I couldn’t understand half of what people were saying to me,” she said.
However, with the help of mentors along the way, Nunez graduated in 1995 with a degree in radio and television performance. She moved on to graduate school in Albany, got her master’s degree in educational administration, and is currently the assistant dean of students and director of residence life at St. John’s University.
It wasn’t an easy journey. Nunez held multiple jobs prior to her current position, including one at Polytechnic Institute of New York University that she “hated with a passion,” although she said it was worthwhile.
If there’s one thing Nunez knows, it’s that life can be difficult. “I had three jobs, my family was dirt poor,” she said.
But life, according to Nunez, is also about taking risks and doing what has to get done. This is what she did when she took a pay and position cut in order to attain her initial job at St. John’s.
“Everyone said ‘You are crazy,'” she said.
Three months later, she was director of campus life. And three years later, she was promoted to where she is today.
The advice she gives to current students is simple. “Get out there, use your connections.”
“I became an adult at New Paltz,” she said.
You can link to their other stories below. And hey, keep your heads up, seniors.
Mitch Scott graduated from New Paltz last May, and is already teaching English at LaGrange Middle School.
Meg Zanetich, a recent journalism grad, is now freelancing at two publications in the Hudson Valley.
Ivey Haber has been wearing many hats since she graduated in May 2009 with an interpersonal communications degree. She’s a freelance art production assistant, set designer for film and TV, and a jewelery and makeup designer.
Katie Koch was a communication disorders major who graduated in December 2009, but now she is a preschool teacher assistant in Coram, N.Y.
Alex Storozynski has what nearly every journalism major wants: a Pulitzer Prize. He graduated in 1983 with a degree in political science.
