From The Classroom to Career: Alumni Offer Guidance to Graduate Students

Associate Professor of Communication Ruth Tsuria, Ph. D. welcomed five College of Human Development, Culture, and Media alumni back to campus for a panel discussing the academic experiences that shaped their careers during her Communication Research class on September. 12.

They shared with the class their stories of successes and hardships through candid discussion. This opportunity allowed for college alumni to give practical guidance into navigating graduate school and emphasizing students how communication research skills remain vital in their daily work.

Hannah Gaston, M.A., now serving as director of education at Liberty Hall Museum, described how the M.A. in Museum Professions program and the support of a dedicated internship advisor helped build a foundation for her career in that very field. She stressed that research is key to developing effective and inclusive museum education.

“Educational programming goes hand in hand with accessible, diverse engagement,” Gaston said. “It’s a hard field but rewarding. Build connections, seek internships, and maintain relationships, you never know who will impact your career.”

Gaston added that the program’s access to major New York City institutions like the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art offered invaluable professional development. Learning the anatomy of each museum and witnessing how each department collaborated internally only further benefitted her skills.

“It’s a hard field but rewarding,” she said. “Build connections, seek internships, and maintain relationships, you never know who will impact your career.”

Gaston uses her skills today to develop educational programs and teach staff how to engage with diverse audiences.

Another panelist, Justin Oosterwyk, a graduate of the M.S. in Professional Communication and Digital Media Arts program, discussed how he embraced the hands-on learning he received, citing the Communication Research class specifically as the space needed to dive into literature that expanded his research into the world of student athletes transitioning beyond sports.

Oosterwyk said leveraging resources such as WSOU allowed him to launch his own podcast about the subject, adding that his passion ultimately shaped his path to ESPN’s radio department, where he continues to build on this foundation established during his graduate studies.

However, Oosterwyk added that transitioning to ESPN was not without its challenges, particularly the need for self-patience and how learning from your mistakes is crucial.

“Mistakes are opportunities to understand processes and improve,” Oosterwyk said, further reminding students to use the resources available to them. “Say ‘Yes’ to the opportunities available to you and the best way to learn is by doing.”

Gabbie Costanzo, a first-year graduate student in the M.A. Museum Professions program, said the alumni panel served as a valuable resource for students preparing to move from graduate study into their professional careers, finding the entire experience encouraging.

“It was helpful to hear how current professionals, who were once in a similar position as me, navigated their own academic and career paths and to see how the skills we’re building in research can be applied in the field,” Costanzo said. “It made me feel more confident about the possibilities ahead.”

About the College of Human Development, Culture, and Media

Launched in Summer 2023, Seton Hall’s College of Human Development, Culture, and Media (CHDCM) embodies the University’s commitment to pedagogical innovation, intellectual ferment and community engagement. Uniting scholars and students from four dynamic departments — Communication, Media and the Arts; Education Leadership, Management and Policy Educational Studies and Professional Psychology and Family Therapy — the College is the new home of cutting-edge, transdisciplinary inquiry into the stickiest problems of our time.

The faculty, staff and students of the College seek to improve the human condition by collaborating across distinct fields that uniquely complement one another, thereby preparing the next generation of dynamic leaders poised to tackle contemporary social challenges and opportunities. Expression underpins all facets of the integrated College’s portfolio: media as a form of education and artistic expression and teaching and learning as modes of creative expression expression and expressibility as critical to counseling and therapeutic treatment and self-expression as a vehicle of social agency.

Categories: Alumni