Graduation is on May 15 for the Class of 2025. The “Congratulation Graduates” banner has been on display since early May. Student Life ambassadors were tasked with distributing caps and gowns. And there is a cap decorating competition (no known prize yet).
The last few weeks were filled with celebratory award ceremonies and festive last club meetings as students and faculty acknowledged the end of the academic year. Meanwhile there is a sign in front of the Student Life Center welcoming newly admitted students. It’s clear there is a transition happening on campus. To have insight from graduating students about this moment, a few graduating students submitted their reflection on being a Brookdale student.
“I joined The Current at the start of the Fall Semester. I have been here at Brookdale since the senior year of high school, taking two courses a semester as apart of Dual Enrollment,” said business major Benjamin Prozeller.
“I have always wanted to become a journalist. When President Trump started his first term, I was 11, but my parents were politically active, so I was suddenly introduced into a wide variety of new subjects and controversies I didn’t understand. But as a history buff, reading articles seriously for the first time made me feel like I was reading history in the making, so I started writing short summaries of articles, nearly every day for two years,” he said.
“Fast forward to when I graduated high school and started here at Brookdale. I was caught between majoring in journalism or in business. I eventually decided on business because of its versatility, but that was admittedly something I felt ashamed of. I felt like I had personally given up on journalism to choose something safe,” Prozeller said.
“That perspective has largely changed for me thanks to The Current. Stepping into the first weekly meeting back in September introduced me to how media outlets run, how interviews are conducted, how articles are structured, and how journalists chase stories. Not only did it open my eyes to what the work life for a reporter would be like, but it also brought back my desire to become a journalist.”
“With these two semesters, I have written about 20 articles. I mainly liked to write about the events that took place or campus or the political happenings in New Jersey. But I think I wrote about both subjects for the same reason, that many people are not aware of the activity around them,” Prozeller said.
“There are so many events that take place at the Lincroft campus that students are almost oblivious to. The largest recurring event on campus is the monthly Bingo nights, but even as the games can bring up to 200 students, I know dozens of people that have never been to a single game. There are also dozens of clubs, each with their own events, and branch organizations of Brookdale itself with professional workshops or salsa classes that students can be a part of. And yet, marketing remains an issue for all organizations on campus,” he said.
“Next semester, I will be starting at Rutgers. There, I plan to join their college newspaper, the second oldest in the country. At Rutgers, I want to progress into writing bigger stories about more impacting occurrences. But my resolve is nonetheless the same. I want to continue writing articles about the things most people are not aware of but should be.”
Michael Mayhew, a 22-year-old journalism major from Middletown, also reflected on his journey at Brookdale:
“I graduated from high school back in 2021, but didn’t start coming to Brookdale until Fall 2022. Unlike most other students who spent two years at Brookdale, I spent three years at Brookdale. Initially, I was a Media Studies major. Towards the end of the Spring 2024 semester, I started to realize that I didn’t know what I wanted to do with a Media Studies degree. I decided to take a quiz online to see what majors would best suit me. Out of the results that I got, journalism felt like the one that suited me the most. Not too long after I decided to switch my major to journalism, I saw that The Current was hosting an event in the Student Life Center. I decided to attend and while it was too late in the year for me to join the Current at that point, I knew that I would join in the fall.
“During my first two years at Brookdale, I had little to no involvement in any extracurricular activities on campus. Basically, I would go attend my classes and then just go home after that. When I joined The Current this past fall, I became much more involved than I was in my first two years, and I got to meet some great people along the way. I also loved to write some of my own stories for the paper.
“In the fall, I will either be attending Monmouth or Kean, I do not know which one yet. Whichever school I attend, I plan on continuing my journalism studies along the way. I will also write more stories for the newspaper at the school that I will be attending in the fall.
“Out of my three years at Brookdale, this past year I feel was my best one. I got to know more people that I never would’ve met if I didn’t join The Current. In addition, I became more confident with myself as a person, not just on campus, but in my personal life as well. Even though I was only a part of The Current’s staff for a year, it was a great experience and one that I always enjoyed being a part of,” he said.
“I am very glad to have been a part of the journalism course and community here at Brookdale,” agreed 22-year-old journalism major Ryan Ennis of Howell. Through my time at Brookdale, I have found a lot more direction than I had previously and explored my passion for writing more than I could’ve hoped for.”
“I plan to continue my education in journalism and look forward to the time ahead of me. Though it is an exciting time for us graduates, I am saddened to leave Brookdale as I have truly enjoyed my experience here,” Ennis said.
As for myself, Emelia Stedman, I will be graduating with two associate degrees, journalism and creative writing.
Since I love faraway places, I never considered continuing my education close to home. However, Brookdale gave me the higher education experience I needed.
As a person with many interests, it was a challenge to find the right major for me. I think it’s normal to be a bit undecisive, for a moment. At first, I was a creative writing major, then chemistry, then journalism. Journalism stuck because it allowed me to explore my writing. I enjoyed submitting work and having Professor Debbie Mura comment with suggestions and edits for a rewrite.
I started Brookdale knowing I needed to earn a degree and now I’m leaving Brookdale feeling more like a writer than I could’ve imagined. I discovered a community in the writing center and that office became a regular spot to receive feedback on my work.
Although I was intimidated by the Math Lab. Still, I would stop by to ask for material to practice, and I found instructors there who helped me with my math fears. Eventually, meeting a tutor in the math lab at 8:30 a.m. for a quick review became a nice way to start my day.
Brookdale set a foundation that will support all of my future endeavors. I am truly thankful for the opportunity to learn and develop at Brookdale. I will miss the beautiful greenery and all the visiting forest wildlife on campus.
