TCNJ

27 SPRING 2025 27 SPRING 2025 He's HOMiNg iN ON His career For Joe Soliwoda-Doan, the concept of home has never been a simple one. Born into New Jersey's foster care system, he spent much of his early life feeling like a piece on someone else's chessboard. He bounced through a series of foster homes before being adopted at age 13. Now, as he prepares for his next chapter, he's the six-foot-five embodiment of resiliency. "I pride myself on that," he says. "And on not letting minor setbacks hinder me from making a comeback." It took Soliwoda-Doan a few semesters to find his way to TCNJ (he transferred his second year) — but the psychology major wasted no time making it his home. He founded a chapter of an honor society for transfer students, pledged Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and was tapped for the TCNJ Lion Royalty Homecoming Court, all while mentoring prospective transfer students on admissions tours and building a support system of friends and faculty. His next home will be in New York City, where he'll start as a program management intern at IPG Health, a global health marketing agency. "I've always wanted to sit in on those big meetings and make big decisions," he says. "But what I really want to do is help the people making those decisions be their best selves." ■ Renée Olson curates clever in her Frenchtown gift store, Sublime. She was also a former editor of these pages. Bill Cardoni has photographed subjects in more than 30 countries with his work appearing in the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and French Vogue.

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