School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Joe Palumbo '07

Job: Director of School Counseling at Jackson (NJ) School District Major(s): Sociology

An interview with Joe

What was your hometown when you came to TCNJ?

East Windsor, NJ

Where do you currently call your hometown?

Howell, NJ

When you were studying here, where did you picture yourself after graduation?

I thought I would work for a government agency or non profit, conducting research.

What was your first job after graduating?

I attended graduate school at TCNJ and obtained my Master's in School Counseling (2009); after that my first job was a high school counselor at Long Branch High School.

How do you use your Sociology degree in your current career and other activities?

As a school counselor I believe that my counseling education/experience acts as my vehicle but my background in sociology acts as my fuel and my navigation system when working with students and families. I believe it is my duty as a school counselor and now director to connect students and families with the opportunities and resources needed to help them pursue happy and productive lives. My training as a sociologist equipped me with a deep understanding of the interconnection between people, societies and it's systems. It has afforded me the opportunity to work with students where they are and work with them as they try and break down societal barriers that are in place. Being a school counselor with a sociology background gives me a purpose to my practice.

What is your favorite "major memory" from your time as a Sociology student?

Ordering Domino's pizza to the basement computer lab in the SB building while trying to navigate through SOC 302 and the dreaded SPSS software! Additionally I fondly remember conducting interviews with victims of the Delaware River Floods in Trenton and New Hope as part of my research for senior capstone.

What is some advice you would give to your undergraduate self?

First, I would tell my undergraduate self to savor every Buffalo Chicken wrap you ever ate at "The Rat" as you never know when that will be your last! Next, I would tell myself to lean into many different career pathways as a sociologist. I did not even consider school counseling as a future career until my senior year. I did not readily see the connection between counseling and sociology being so strong in my underclassmen days. Now I realize I would not be one without the other.