Hudson Valley graduates share their experiences

Richard Decker
Staff Writer

Thousands of students will walk across the stage at the Joseph Bruno Stadium to receive their diplomas this Saturday.

Jennifer A. Edwards is graduating with an early childhood education major from the Teacher Preparation Department. In discussing her appreciation for her program, Edwards stated, “The professors were incredibly supportive in helping me through the curriculum. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Edwards, a continuing education student, did, however, experience some difficulties when she first arrived on campus.

“As someone [who’s] older, navigating the new technology and learning how to format papers was the worst, but I got through it,” Edwards said.

She also gave special thanks to the supportive professors in the Teacher Preparation Department, who helped her over the last three years. Using her knowledge from the program, Edwards brought an art portfolio to the library with the intent of offering some night classes. Instead, they hired her to establish a full preschool in the Schuylerville Public Library.

When Edwards feels ready, after feeling confident with the status of the preschool, she will move on to SUNY Empire to continue her studies.

Markae Johnson is graduating with a major in business administration from the School of Business. Johnson, an online-only student, had great admiration for the online professors.

“I really appreciated how nice the professors were,” Johnson said. “I did online and transferred, so I knew what it was like to be on campus. As someone who is not on campus, their communication is crucial since there is no class and no office hours, but all the professors were good at responding within an hour or at least the next day at worst.”

“When there are events, there is no signage,” Johnson said, on stating one aspect she would change. “Many times, [when] there are things going on, you don’t know about them, so hopefully that changes.”

Mario Mascaro is graduating with a political science major from the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Mascaro gave thanks to the size of the community and ratio of professors to students.

“The instructor-student ratio really encourages more intimate discussions, and the professors have all demonstrated an overwhelming degree of knowledge in their fields and are more than sufficiently adept at developing the students.”

Mascaro also expressed concern about administration’s involvement in student engagement toward the end of the year.

“I am surprised by the tendency of a large part of the student body to stop showing up at the end of the semester to study,” Mascaro said. “This is strange, and it doesn’t seem that the administration has been doing very much to try to tackle this problem. There is a vast range in terms of student apathy. I have fallen prey to this myself at different points, but the gap does seem to be wider here than elsewhere.”

Ryan Blanchard is graduating with an individual studies major with a concentration in political science from the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“I thought Hudson valley was an exception college,” Blanchard said, on his views of the college. “My time there was a great experience, and [it] effectively prepared me for my undergraduate degree. The professors were professional and the coursework memorable.”

Blanchard was also able to take advantage of a unique opportunity offered by the Social Sciences department.

“I interned as an assistant to U.S. House of Representatives Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, which taught me a lot about how government works and how policy is made,” Blanchard stated. “Overall, it was a rewarding experience.”

Carter Benoit is graduating with a major in individual studies. Benoit gave thanks to the lasting experiences and takeaways provided by the school.

“I enjoyed my time at Hudson Valley,” Benoit said. “I made a lot of connections and advanced myself during my time here. I have grown as a person and gained many useful experiences I can draw from in the coming years. The college has a lot of potential and should continue to expand its services and opportunities.”