Samantha Solomon

Building a New Career in Education

During her first year of law school, Samantha Solomon ’11M.S.Ed. had an insight that changed her life – she realized the most powerful way to make an impact on another person was through teaching.

“Initially I thought if I became a child advocacy lawyer I could help children by defending their rights,” says the Staten Island NY, native. “But then it dawned on me: by becoming a teacher, I could change the world one student at a time.”

Having earned her bachelor’s degree in Human Development from Cornell University, Samantha searched for a high-quality graduate education program that accepts college graduates without education degrees and prepares them to become leading educators.

“The School of Education’s Career Change program immediately grabbed my attention,” says Samantha, who is specializing in Adolescent Education with a concentration in mathematics. “Unlike the other graduate education programs I researched, St. John’s Master’s of Science in Education accepts students from various professional backgrounds and gives them the skills and techniques they need to be successful in today’s classrooms.”

Also a special education teacher at Susan Wagner High School in Staten Island, Samantha finds the greatest benefit of teaching while going to school being able to immediately implement what she learns in her classroom. “This semester I’m taking a course on teaching students with exceptionalities and I’ve been able to use the tips and strategies to help the students I’m currently working with.”

A part-time program with flexible evening and weekend class options, the Master of Science in Education offers six teaching specializations including Childhood Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) that qualify students for full-time teaching positions after completing one year of the program. To learn how you can make a change and begin an exciting career in teaching, please visit The School of Education online.