Red Bank Regional Class of 2008 grad Nicole Tortoriello (third from left) is pictured with students from the Social Justice class in RBR’s Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, including Christopher Perl, Charles Travis, Aliyyah Godsey, and Michael Cola.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Recently, Red Bank Regional High School welcomed back one of its alumni, former Shrewsbury resident Nicole Tortoriello. A member of the Class of 2008, Nicole visited the Social Justice class in the Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences at the invitation of lead teacher Rose Powers, to share her experience of college and law school, and to discuss the evolution of her social justice career path.
“My core belief is that everyone should have a good, free, public education like I did at RBR,” stated Nicole, who recently completed her first year of law school at Columbia University, following employment at a non-profit advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. Nicole’s time at RBR saw her serve as class president for three years, participating in Mock Trial and on the swimming team. She also worked throughout high school and during her college years at Georgetown, from which she graduated in 2012.
“Whatever you are doing, work really hard,” explained the guest speaker — an attitude that should extend as well to unpaid internships, which have become more and more common in this employment environment.
“Do really good work, because people will respect you and help you find something else — like a paying job,” she continued, pointing out that she herself would soon be initiating a summer internship with the U.S. Department of Education back in Washington D.C.
Nicole dispensed invaluable advice to this group of predominately sophomore students on preparing themselves early on for their college application process. She strongly advised them to emphasize extra-curricular activities that they care the most about, and show a commitment to working at. However, she strongly advised them to go “outside” their school for other activities such as her volunteer service in the office of the late U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg. When looking at colleges, she told the students not to automatically eliminate the expensive, private ones, because often they have financial aid to offer which could reduce the cost of attendance significantly.
She cautioned them not to dismiss disclosing the part-time jobs they might have done, as “everyone learns something from a working experience,” like the good customer relations skills she honed in her job as a cashier during high school. Also, when tackling that dreaded college essay she told them to “make it about something you can write easily about.” She wrote about the one year she lost her election to be RBR’s class president, and what she learned from that sobering experience. She also warned them to ask their teachers for recommendations as early as their junior year, so teachers have plenty of time to accommodate the request.
Also, when evaluating schools, she suggested that the students not just talk to the admission people as “it is their job to sell you on their school”, but to talk to the students. She added, “And when you do begin college, pursue internships anyway you can, through the school’s career services, networking, and even sending out cold emails to professionals you may not know very well,” believing that people are often very agreeable to help.
As Nicole recalled, it was her involvement in RBR’s Model UN — a program in which she was assigned to the country of Iran — that piqued her interest in government and foreign policy, and attracted her to Georgetown, a school that offered four years of study in Farsi, a language that she “fell in love with” at RBR.
She soon recognized that her true interests lay in domestic issues, and decided to pursue work there. Her years of volunteer internships at the offices of Senators Lautenberg and Kay Hagen later afforded her an opportunity to obtain her first paying job in her field. Following college graduation, she worked for The Education Trust, a national non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap.
Emphasizing that students “keep an open mind” to other people’s viewpoints, Nicole cited as an example that her initial drive to affect educational policy came from her objection to RBR moving to block scheduling; which was implemented after her graduation.
“I thought I had a great education and didn’t think such a change was necessary,” she explained. “But I have since learned that it is working well and that everyone at RBR likes it.”
Nicole also explained that her decision to enter law school was not fueled solely by a desire to practice law. On the contrary, she explained, “When I looked around and saw the kind of jobs I wanted to do in the policy world, I realized that everyone seemed to have a law degree.” She also cautioned that “It is the most work I have ever done, and I couldn’t even attempt to take on a part-time job.”
