Ocean County College OceanViews Magazine 2026 Summer-Fall - Flipbook - Page 10
STUDENT STORIES
OCC’S SOCIAL WORK CLASS
Smashing Expectations – Including Their Own
“I’m too old.” “I already tried college
once.” “My English isn’t good enough.”
“I don’t know what I want to do.”
Social Work Professor Anaïs Mompoint
has heard every one of those doubts,
and her response is always the same:
“So what?”
had spent years in the workforce. Some
were the first in their families to pursue
higher education. Some were raising
families, balancing multiple jobs, or simply wondering whether they belonged in
a college classroom.
The question is direct, without a trace
of indifference. It’s an invitation to think
differently. Those two words don’t erase
the financial hardship, language barriers, past failures, or self-doubt; they simply challenge the idea that those things
have to determine what happens next.
For Lucia McGuire-Pettersen, the path
began with disappointment. Financial
hardship forced her to leave a four-year
university after just one semester. Later,
she enrolled at OCC only to have the
pandemic push everything online before
she had a chance to settle in. When she
returned again, she made a promise to
herself. “This time, I need to be here.”
This past spring, twenty-five OCC students earned their Associate in Science
degrees in Social Work, the program’s
largest graduating cohort to date. Each
arrived at OCC by a different path. Some
had tried college before, while others
Molly Bryceland also came to OCC after
discovering that a traditional university
wasn’t the right fit. Rutgers University
was overwhelming—and too expensive—for someone still trying to figure
out where she belonged.
10 Summer-Fall 2026
Josselyn Alvaro’s challenges went far
beyond choosing a college. After immigrating from Ecuador, she was learning
English and adapting to an entirely new
culture while living far from the family
she hoped to support.
Kamari Jones had stepped away from
college before finding his way to OCC. As
a first-generation student, he had grown
up believing that higher education
wasn’t for him. Even after enrolling, he
questioned whether he belonged.
Ray O’Donnell came directly from high
school, but wasn’t ready to leave home
or commit to a career path before discovering where their interests truly lay.
Meanwhile, Kendra Zuniga worried that
at 27, she would be the oldest person in
the room.
Different lives. Different obstacles.
Different reasons to wonder if college
was right for them. Professor Mompoint’s
answer remained the same: So what?
