TCNJ

3 SPRING 2025 FACING PAGE PHOTOS (TOP) MICHELLE GUSTAFSON; (BOTTOM) BOUTROS FAMILY; ILLUSTRATION KATHRYN RATHKE; THIS PAGE TCNJ ARCHIVES IF YOU BUILD IT … My best friend and roommate, James Wojcicki '89, turned a random college job into a successful empire. Our senior year, we took a trip together to the Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, to see who was hiring. We filled out applications for a new optical store, Lenscrafters, that was about to open. I got called in for an interview, but Jim didn't. Well, he didn't like that, and followed up to insist that he also get an interview. His persistence paid off, and each of us got a job there. After graduation, we both initially worked in the optical industry. I left the field after about 10 years, but Jim stayed and in 2010, he opened up his own shop in San Diego. He now owns three optical stores in California. We are still best friends and I'm very proud of his accomplishments. SANDRA HETZEL '89 WORK AS COMFORT I worked at the bookstore and was working the morning of September 11, 2001. That was definitely my most memorable moment. The bookstore had TVs on either side of it and I watched the crowds grow and saw everyone's emotions as things unfolded. KRISTIN LINKE '06 I spent three years as a manager at the Brower Student Center. I worked a lot of weekends, sometimes closing at 3 a.m. Immediately after September 11, administration kept the building open 24/7 so that students had a place to gather, grab some food, and start to process the heartbreak. We took shifts at all hours. Listening to fellow students share their feelings, and to be able to cry, and even manage to laugh together, is something I'll never forget. BILL SOHOR THE HUSTLE WAS REAL I was a cook at Seafood Shanty, located off of Olden Avenue. From the outside, you would think it was an upscale restaurant. In reality, it was all college students who were doing the cooking. PETER WAYNE '83 Paid my way through college working as a fur trapper. I walked the streams, swamps, and woods, and caught muskrats, raccoons, and foxes. I would skin and stretch the fur, prepare the meat for sale, and sell at the New York fur market. MIKE TAYLOR '86 I valet-parked cars at Liberty Bell Park Racetrack in northeast Philadelphia. Upon graduating at TSC, I had to take a cut in pay when I quit parking cars and started teaching at Rancocas Valley High School. GREGORY OGDEN '81 I worked for Building Services and they sent me and a co-worker to pick up a piano from a residence hall for disposal. We managed to get it into the truck, but when we stopped at a stop sign, the piano fell over on its side. It was impossible to move it from that position to get it out. Back at the office we parked the truck with the piano still in the back, and clocked out for the day. It must have been quite a surprise for whoever took the truck out next. JIM DONZI '04 On Thursday nights, I would go home to work five shifts at a movie theater over the weekend. Came back to campus Sunday nights at 6 p.m. GABRIELLE PARSEGHIAN '80 During the school year, I sold wigs from my car, worked as a cashier at a diner, and was a bank loan officer for Kelly Girl temps. I gained insight into what I didn't want to do for the rest of my life. MARLENE METRIONE HUSCHKE '72 UP FRONT Working it How did you pay your way through college? Send your most memorable stories from the jobs you had as a student to magazine@tcnj.edu. LAST ISSUE Thanks to the many alumni who shared stories of the jobs they held in college ("Working it," winter 2025). Your work ethics are an inspiration to our current students. " WE ARE STILL BEST FRIENDS AND I'M VERY PROUD OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS. " — SANDRA HETZEL '89 WHO WORKED WITH JAMES WOJCICKI '89 IN COLLEGE We know our alumni work hard. But what are your passions outside of the office? Share what fulfills you at magazine@tcnj.edu.

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