Behind the Scenes

My name is Ashley Navin, and I am currently the administrator behind all of Monmouth's Computer Science and Software Engineering Department social media pages. I am a graduate student at Monmouth University, in the Software Engineering 5-year Master's program.

In all my years here, Monmouth has felt like home. At Monmouth, if you are an out-of-state student, you are in the minority, so being from Massachusetts I was nervous to be so far from my home and family. In the end, coming to Monmouth was the greatest decision of my life! Monmouth University is a beautiful place to spend your college years. A mile from the beach, an area with plenty to do, and we have here some of the best people you will ever meet. While getting a great education and learning how to live on my own, I made some of my best friends who will be with me for the rest of my life.

I entered Monmouth with my major already chosen, Software Engineering, and had already been invited into the five year Master's program. Software Engineering may be viewed as a challenging major and I was very nervous going in that I did not know enough to do well, but I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that all the faculty in our department wanted to see every student be successful! All my teachers were understanding and made time for students who needed more help or clarification. This is when I realized that I would succeed in my major because the professors wanted me to.

As an undergraduate, I was on the Monmouth University Women's Golf Team. Because of this I missed many classes every fall and spring during my undergraduate years. My software engineering professors were very understanding and accepted that my absences were excused by the athletic department. Together we made sure that I did not fall behind and this allowed me to succeed in my program as well as continue to play my sport. This is what separates Monmouth from other schools. As a Division 1 athlete in Software Engineering, people were shocked that I was able to thrive in my major and maintain a strong GPA.

Monmouth not only stole my heart, becoming my home for the past five years, but Monmouth allowed my dreams to come true. Not all high school athletes are given the opportunity to play a Division 1 sport in college, but I was, and with the help of Monmouth University, I was able to do it while pursuing a degree in the major of my choice.