This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from Leah Kiser.  She was born and raised in Mount Holly.  Leah’s mother was an administrative assistant for a small manufacturing business in nearby Lumberton, New Jersey.  Her father was in the United States Air Force.  He retired when Leah was in elementary school, and he then embarked on a career of founding and running small businesses.  He passed away when Leah was only 15 years old.  She attended public schools in the area and graduated Rancocas Valley High School in 2010.  She has one younger brother who went to Johnson & Yales in Rhode Island.  Leah enrolled at Rowan in the Fall of 2010.  She graduated four years later with a history degree and subject matter education.  In the Fall of 2014, she took a position as a teacher’s aide.  After doing that for two years, she became a longtime substitute teacher at her alma mater high school teaching history.  In 2017, she finally got her first real teaching job, teaching at Freedom Prep Middle School in Camden, New Jersey.  After two years of this, she left and did two things.  First, she took a job teaching at Memorial Middle School in Willingboro. She has been teaching there the past five years.  She teaches ancient world history, including Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean World.  Second, she entered the online School Counseling master’s program at Capella University.  She completed that degree in 2022.

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From a young age, I knew college was in the plan for me. Neither of my parents put pressure on me to go to college, though they expected me to do so. My father had graduated from the Citadel in South Carolina. My mother actually got her degree one year after I finished mine, and I was lucky to be able to help her. From at least middle school, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I had great teachers and loved being in school. Despite being aware that I wanted to become a teacher, I struggled to decide exactly what subject I wanted to teach. I always did well academically, and I found all subjects to be fascinating and interesting in their own right. I believe I settled on studying history when I thought about my most impactful teachers, especially Mr. Mark Heiser whom I had met the end of my freshmen year. He taught with such passion and knew so many interesting tidbits and facts surrounding important historical events that I knew there was so much more to learn about the subject. I applied to Rowan University, Drexel University, The College of New Jersey, and the University of Delaware.  I only got accepted to Rowan and to Drexel. I had a difficult time deciding between the two, and ultimately chose Rowan because it was more affordable, closer to my home, and had a better education program.

At Rowan’s orientation, I met Mike Francisco and connected over the fact that we discovered that we were both from the same area of New Jersey and had both declared as history majors.  We both heard Dr Carrigan talk about the CLIO program at orientation and we agreed that it sounded like a good opportunity to meet other like-minded history majors. I am so glad that I decided to join CLIO because it allowed me to comfortably transition to college life. For me, college was a reality check. In high school, I was smart enough to be able to do well without having to work that hard.  In the CLIO courses, I quickly learned that one had to read and keep up if one wanted to excel.  At this time, the CLIO students lived together in Chestnut, and my roommate was Amanda Katzoff, who was also in CLIO. We not only bonded over our love of history, but also reality TV. This was my first experience really sharing space with someone, especially a bedroom, and it was great to live with someone who not only also loved history but felt like a friend. Beyond Amanda, I really hit it off with Mason DiGiaimo and Sam Wagner. I really believe that without this learning community, I am not sure I would have talked to anyone. My introverted personality would have kept me in my shell, and it was also great taking the classes together.

During my time at Rowan, I had a quite a few memorable experiences with the history department. Being a part of CLIO left some early impactful memories. The first class I stepped foot into as a college student at Rowan was with Jim Heinzen. He was my professor for Western Civilization to 1660 with CLIO.  I liked his personality right off the bat, he was energetic and passionate. In the same semester, Emily Blanck taught our group United States History to 1865, and I remember she organized some really cool trips for the CLIO group.  I remember that she took me on my first ever trip to Independence Hall, which I have now visited many times.  Like others in the Department, I can remember her kindness.  I have this vivid memory of one morning when the CLIO group had to go to her class, but it was absolutely pouring rain.  I remember being really worried because the rain not only completely soaked us but made us late.  However, she was totally sympathetic and made us feel better.  At the end of that first semester at Rowan, I remember Jim Heinzen inviting our CLIO class to the end-of-the-year Holiday party in the Department and thinking that “I must be an adult” to get an invitation to this event. It was a jarring experience in its own way to feel like a peer to my professor, rather than just a student. I remember going to that party with all my CLIO friends and just really feeling part of the History Department community for the first time.  I felt close to my fellow students and felt that the faculty knew us and saw us as an important part of the Department.  

I ended up taking more classes with Dr. Heinzen.  He was important to me because he had me in his CLIO class and knew me well.  After the CLIO program ended, and I was in the “regular” history classes, I reverted to my introverted and shy self.  I was now much less likely to raise my hand and participate than I had been earlier, even though I still did the readings.  I remember that in one class, I raised my hand to answer a question.  Dr. Heinzen called on me, but I took my hand down and said “never mind.”  After class, he pulled me aside and said, “Leah, you can’t do that.”  He said that even if I was not 100% certain of my answer, I needed to be assertive because I would eventually need to be able to command respect in discussions.  As a woman, he added regretfully, people are more likely to doubt that you know your stuff.  If you show such hesitancy, they will definitely not take you as seriously as they should.  He then said that he had great confidence that I did know what I was talking about, and he wanted me to have that same confidence.  I realized after this that I had to push myself to be heard and to participate.

I took Melissa Klapper’s course on United States history between World War I and World War II. This time period was one I really enjoyed already, but I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed that class and really enjoyed Dr. Klapper.  She was passionate the subject and really knew her stuff! I also liked the way that we did work in small teams and took the time to cover groups and stories that you often don’t get to focus upon.   For example, I remember that we gave a lot of attention to women’s history during this period.  I also remember studying immigration.  Dr. Klapper was an expert on Jewish history, and I remember really enjoying this part of the courses as well.  I liked this time period before I signed up for the class, but I ended up totally falling in love with the interwar period by the end of the course.

I remember Joy Wiltenburg’s course on the Renaissance and Reformation.  I remember that we really dove into this time period and got into the culture of the period in such a deep way.  We had studied the general era in high school, of course, but it felt so different in this class.  I remember reading Voltaire and just being so amazed by the weirdness of the text.  I think this was my favorite class at Rowan because of Dr. Wiltenburg.  She was such a kind person.  It was so clear that she really cared about us and how we were doing. I remember being surprised at this. I had somehow thought that once you became an adult, other adults would not care for you in this very supportive way.

Outside of the classroom, I had two really important experiences at Rowan that have helped shape me today. The first was a job in the mailroom. I had a federal work study grant and no idea what to do with it. I looked at an online job board posted for students on work study and applied to anything and everything. The mailroom was the first to get back to me. I ended up working there for all four years of college. With the passing of my father, some of the men who worked full-time in this Department kind of became father figures to me.  I remember having deep conversations with Mike Radano and John Hagan about various topic of life. They questioned me in ways that helped shape my personality and gave me a better outlook on life through those formative years. In 2019, I came back for a job fair at Rowan, and I dropped by the mail room because it had been such an important place to me.  I remember being surprised and happy that these men remembered me and were very happy to see me after so many years.

I became a Resident Assistant in my sophomore year, and I continued in my junior and senior years. My RA experience really defined my time at Rowan because it allowed me to take on a more leadership role, while providing me with another community in which I could be connected with others. Although introverted and shy, my personality lends itself to be helpful and kind to others as well.  I was in Evergreen and Mullica my first two years. With freshmen, it was important to build a strong sense of community and providing a safe, comfortable space for them to settle. Remembering how brave I tried to be in my transition to college, I wanted to help be the face of “If I can do this, you can too” and allow incoming freshmen that space to know it’s okay to be a little nervous. It would brighten my day each time I would open my dorm room door to the sound of students helping each other with assignments in the hallway or hanging out smashed together in one dorm room. It gave me a sense of purpose at Rowan beyond getting my degree, I now had a reason to talk to people and immerse myself further into the Rowan community.  In fact, being an RA is what really gave me confidence that I did indeed want to be a teacher; to be in a position to provide that mentorship and guidance.  I loved helping my residents, and I knew those skills would translate to the classroom.  My RA experience also fueled my desire to enroll in the School Counseling master’s program. I hope to soon transition from the classroom into a counseling role.

When I graduated from Rowan, I don’t think I fully realized how great my college experience had been.  I never regretted my decision, and I felt I was lucky to have chosen Rowan. I was sure that I would not have had the same experience at Drexel.  Yet, I am not sure I completely understood how fortunate that I had been.  Rowan was the right size for me, and I was so lucky to have been in the CLIO program and to have had such supportive faculty members.  Interestingly, I think that reading all your Project 100 memories has helped me appreciate how special my time was at Rowan.  As I read what my fellows alums said, I realized that the relationships we built with the faculty were not ones that happen at all colleges.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100+,” an ongoing collection of memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff that began as part of the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  Due to interest in the project, the number of interviewees continues to grow.  Thanks to Laurie Lahey for helping proofread and edit the final versions.  Email carrigan@rowan.edu with questions or corrections.  You can find the Link to all of the Project 100 and Project 100+ entries on the Web:  https://chss.rowan.edu/departments/history/alumni_highlights/project_100/