This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from Megan Kearney O’Connor.  She was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey.  After 7^th grade, her family moved to Hillsdale, New Jersey.  Her mother was an elementary school teacher and is now retired.  Megan’s father is a mechanical engineer who is now President of two construction companies, Rapid Pump and Meter Service Co. and Machinery Services Co.  Megan is one of four children, including an older brother and two younger siblings, one brother and one sister.  She attended Catholic schools until 8^th grade and then attended Pascack Valley Regional High School, graduating in 2009.  She entered Rowan University in the Fall that year.  Megan graduated four years later, in the Spring of 2013.  In the Fall of 2013, thanks to a full scholarship that came with a graduate research position, she began pursuing a master’s degree at Montclair State University in Counseling with a focus on higher education.  She completed her master’s in the Spring of 2015.  She then began working at Ramapo College, working both with investigations related to Title IX issues and with commuting students through the Center for Student Involvement.  After two years, seeking increased salary, she left Ramapo for IvyWise, a private company on the upper East Side of Manhattan that tutors and preps students for admission to elite private schools on the East Coast.  After two years at IvyWise, she took a position as Assistant Director for Admissions and Data Management at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit, New Jersey.  In 2022, she was approached by a portfolio company of the private equity firm, Hidden Harbor, to oversee the integration of various operations/software platforms as they were acquiring numerous companies, including the two construction businesses run by her father.  She continues in that role today, and her official title is Manager of Business Operations and Transformation. 

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I applied to several colleges, but my choices were all related to swimming. I wanted to swim at the Division III level.  My choice came down to The College of New Jersey and Rowan, but my older brother swam at TCNJ, and I did not want to swim with him after doing so in high school. So, I chose Rowan. However, on my very first day on campus, the coach who had recruited me resigned.  After two weeks of pre-season swimming with no coach, I decided this was a sign that I was not supposed to swim at college.  I left the team. 

When I applied to Rowan, I chose to be undecided.  However, I ended up being in an orientation group with history majors.  They were already in the CLIO program and seemed so excited about it.  I also liked the fact that, as a learning community, there was a structure.  I had been a varsity athlete in three high school sports, so my life was filled with structure and teammates. CLIO appealed as it seemed to possess some of those elements.  Moreover, I met folks who had been in the program the previous year, and they enjoyed it.  So, I switched over during orientation to history and ended up meeting you, Dr. Carrigan.  Like the others, you did a great job selling the CLIO program.  I should also say that I had really enjoyed history in high school as well.  The only negative that others mentioned about the program was “morning classes,” but I had gotten up at 5am every day to swim, so 9:25am was no problem for me.  It is true that, unlike most of the other CLIO students, I did not want to teach, but I figured I would give history a try and figure out the career part later. 

In that first semester, I had you for United States to 1865 and Dr. Heinzen for Western Civilization since 1660.  Even though I had had these subjects in high school, these two courses went into so much more depth.  Plus, I loved reading history texts and writing history papers.  Both courses also encouraged me to think about history differently.  I liked the freedom that existed in the way that history was taught at Rowan.  You and Dr. Heinzen encouraged us to come up with our analysis of the history we were studying.  Unlike high school, the goal was not memorization or particular writing techniques.  While you two were very challenging professors, you always made it clear that you wanted us to take what we read and learned and make it our own.  You provided the context for us to make our own conclusions about topics we studied.  I remember getting totally absorbed in the impact of John Locke on American history and the Constitution.  At one point, I thought I wanted to study Locke and his impact for the rest of my life.

I loved my Ancient Egypt class with Scott Morschauser.  I had that class with my good friends, Stacy Blauvelt and Samantha Wagner.  I had known very little about Egypt before this course, and it was amazing.  I loved his lecturing style.  It was just so wonderful to listen to him.  I became enraptured by what he was discussing.  His enthusiasm for the subject was infectious, and I remember getting so excited about our field trip to the University of Pennsylvania Museum.

I sought out the courses with the most challenging professors, so I took Melissa Klapper. I loved her Historical Methods class.  I loved the way that she ripped apart our papers.  It was so refreshing to have someone challenge you and push you so much.  I know that it was a blow to the self-esteem of some others, but I loved how much attention she gave to our work and how much she cared that we get better. I’ve often joked with my dear friend, sorority sister, and mentee, Samantha Wagner that Klapper was the only person who could keep up with my “big beefy brain” - keeping me inspired enough to always attend class. 

My course on the Middle East with Cory Blake was memorable because I had known so little about that part of the world before her class.  The way that she explained the impact of Islam on the region was eye-opening and helped me understand the modern world so much better.  It gave me a better foundation for understanding contemporary news about the Middle East and Islam in general.

I enrolled in Dr. Edward Wang’s course on Chinese Cultural History.  I took this class at the same time as the Middle East course, and I remember my mind exploding with all this new knowledge. I felt like my worldview and understanding were growing rapidly as a result.  I can’t remember the exact texts now, but I remember that Dr. Wang had great, great readings.  Many of them were eye-opening primary sources.  He also showed us excellent video clips and thus broke up the class.  He knew that much of the material would be new to us, and he structured the course nicely so that we would not be overwhelmed. 

I had two more courses with you Dr. Carrigan, the History of New Jersey and Senior Seminar.  I felt close to you since the first semester and CLIO, and I knew you would be a great person to help me get through Seminar.  You were both someone who made me feel safe and seen but also someone who would push me to get out of my comfort zone and into the archives digging for primary sources.

I found my home at Rowan.  While I spent a lot of time in my history classes, I also spent much time working with the Student Government Association.  At the beginning of my sophomore year, I ran for and won a position on the Student Government Executive Board as the Assistant Vice President for Facilities and Operations.  The next year, and also in my senior year, I won a campus-wide vote to become the Student Trustee.  Once on the Board, I was mentored by Jean Edelman and Joanne Connors.  I was actually on the search committee that selected Ali Houshmand to be the next President after Donald Farish left.  It was an exciting time to be in student leadership.  I remember our planning out things that later came to fruition, such as Rowan Boulevard, the partnerships with the county colleges, and even the Fossil Park.  I felt like I was part of Rowan’s expansion and growth. 

I must say something about Jean Edelman.  She was so personally nice and supportive of me.  One of the other things that I did at Rowan was to start the equestrian club. It now seems to be doing well, but we had to build it from the ground up.  Not only did Ms. Edelman help us by purchasing saddle pads, she even bought our very first club T-shirt!

Richard Jones was the Dean of Student Life while I was at Rowan.  I loved him from the moment I met him.  He was one of the advisors for the SGA, and I met with him weekly as a result.  For three years, we were so close.  He always made space for me.  He was such a fair person. He was a father figure who made me feel so comfortable and helped make Rowan become my home away from home.  He prioritized students so much, and he would make this clear to us by always rescheduling any meeting with non-students for a student meeting.  He was particularly supportive of women and marginalized groups.  He helped me get into my program at Montclair State, and he called the Dean there to personally urge that they give me the assistantship.  He was such a fun person and became a very good friend.  I remember our shared love of chicken at Popeye’s.  His passing was personally very difficult for me, and his death was an incredible loss for the University.  I was just one person of so many that he helped.

One of the things I deeply valued about my experience at Rowan was the ability to diversify experiences and to dive into anything that interests you. While the Student Government Association developed me professionally in so many ways, pledging my sorority Alpha Sigma Alpha developed my interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. I had the opportunity to foster life-long friendships in my sorority. The community of women supporting women began over lunches in the Student Center and developed into some of these same women coming to my house to set up my daughter’s nursery 12 years later.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without my experiences at Rowan.  I chose it for something that I never even did, swimming.  Rowan, however, gave me needed space from my family and friends since it was a 2.5-hour drive from my home.  Yet, at the same time, it was a very nurturing place that helped me develop and grow and become the person that I am today.  My daughter, Aoife, is nearly two years old, and she has lots and lots of Rowan gear. I can’t wait for her to attend Rowan herself.  My husband does not understand, but I tell him that she doesn’t have to be a history major, she just has to go to Rowan. 

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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_all/