"The perseverance I learned at Monroe is a theme I teach at school. When the reading gets hard for my students, I tell them to never give up."
Julysa Vasquez earned her bachelor’s degree cum laude in early childhood education in 2018. Today, she is a kindergarten teacher at the Global Community Charter School in Harlem. She started as a student teacher there while still studying at Monroe.
"The principal offered me a full-time teaching position when I finished my student teaching," says Julysa. "The professors at Monroe gave me the skills I use daily in my classroom and they have helped me to become the teacher I am today.
“I loved the teaching program at Monroe. The small class sizes helped me connect with the professors and my classmates. We were a family. I build same close community in my classroom.”
At one point during college, Julysa struggled financially and had to take two semesters off. “But the school never gave up on me and urged me to come back. Dean Lillis even gave me the resources and a workable payment plan to get me back in school. The perseverance I learned at Monroe is a theme I teach at school. When the reading gets hard for my students, I tell them to never give up.”
