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Alumni News

Alumna Ashley Shaffer’s Inspirational Words

I wanted to contact the TCNJ World Languages department to say thank you and give some exciting news that I feel is overdue in writing and that I owe partially to the department. This fall, I started as a PhD student of Spanish at Temple University with a specialization in Hispanic Linguistics. I am also teaching undergraduate Spanish at the university. Along my journey to this point, the instruction I received from TCNJ professors and the passion they conveyed for the content have been priceless. My goal is to become a Spanish professor and contribute to the field of SL instruction.

Joe Goebel has been an inspiration and mentor to me since taking his methodology course. He has written letters of recommendation for my first K-12 teaching position, Master’s program, and now for the doctoral program. Apart from this, though, he models what it means to be a supportive educator. I gained a very strong foundation in SLA/SL Instruction from his teaching which allows me to teach with enjoyment and student success. It provided solid knowledge for completing a Master’s in Teaching Language (Spanish) in terms of theory and application.
All of the department professors whom I took courses with provide strong instruction and knowledge of the field. I can say this from having taught for 7+ years with other Spanish teachers and discussing our undergraduate Spanish experiences and from the utility of what I learned in application in an MA. As a teacher and higher ed. student, I have consistently referred back to Dr. Goebel’s course and information I learned in Dr. Figueroa’s classes about Latin American civilization, literature, and composition. Dr. Morin’s phonetics course was eye-opening and direction-changing for me. When I saw the correlation between language learning and the importance of understand a language’s parts, I realized I wanted to continue studying it for the long haul…and here I am! I think of these professors as inspiration for what I want to achieve and want to send a big thank you to the department – professors may not always know it, but they are inspirations to their students even after graduation.

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Congrats to Amy Wood

Amy Wood, Italian Teacher at Point Pleasant Borough High School Hosts First Annual Italian Film Festival. Ms. Wood is currently pursuing dual master’s degrees in Italian and Educational Technology; Miss Wood said that she modeled the festival after a graduate course she took at Rutgers entitled “Italian Cinema in the Classroom.” More information here. Continue Reading

Congrats to Kimberly Lynn Clark

Kimberly Lynn Clark, Ed. D.: Following graduation from TCNJ in 2002, with a bachelors degree in Spanish. Kim taught Spanish at Oakcrest High School for eight years. After earning her master’s degree in education from NSU and obtaining her administrative certifications through NJEXCEL, she joined the administration at Pinelands Regional School District as a supervisor… Continue Reading

Congratulations to Jill Voorhees Patterson

Jill Voorhees Patterson, Ed. D.: After graduating from TCNJ in 2002, Jill taught middle and high school Spanish for seven years. She competed a masters in Spanish language and culture at the Universidad de Salamanca and a masters in educational leadership at Rider University. She left teaching to pursue an internship opportunity with the N.J.… Continue Reading

Another congrats to WLC alumna Maryan Escarfullett!

Congratulations to WLC alumna Maryan Escarfullett (self-designed Chinese major, ’12) who has successfully completed her master’s in international studies at the Johns Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies. The thesis for her MA degree is titled “2014中国人的价值观/Changes in Chinese Values from 1990-2014: A Study of the World Values Survey” (in Chinese). An English version… Continue Reading

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