Passion and Purpose: Rutgers–Camden Graduate Presley Albadine Prepares for Life Abroad as a Fulbright Scholar
Passions have long driven senior Presley Albadine—whether it’s been through dance, public service, or her leadership roles at Rutgers–Camden.
As she graduates this month, the Gloucester County native and newly minted Fulbright scholar will soon leverage many of those pursuits internationally, capping an undergraduate journey packed with academic honors and campus involvement.
Albadine, who majored in psychology and childhood studies, will travel to Paraguay next year to serve as an English Teaching Assistant through a Fulbright Scholarship.
A trained dancer, she will also study several of the area dance troupes whose work is steeped in local heritage.
“Part of my cultural immersion will be the Kamba Cua Ballet and Ballet Folklórico Iberoamericano, incorporating dance with teaching English, and comparing mental health in dance between Eurowestern ballet and Paraguayan ballet,” she said.
Just a few years ago, however, higher education was not on Albadine’s radar.
She pursued a professional dance career in high school, ultimately dropping out to continue intensive ballet training. Later, she stepped away from the professional dancing world.
While volunteering at a local animal sanctuary and contemplating her next move, a veterinary career piqued Albadine’s interest and with it, college life.
“I went to a big high school, so I kind of knew what that's like,” she said. “I really liked that Rutgers–Camden was smaller, closer to home, and it had a lot of opportunities. You get to know your faculty and other students, and it's a research school, too.”
Albadine eventually changed her major from biology to psychology and then later, added childhood studies, drawn to the social sciences and narrowing in on a career helping people.
She studied in the Cognition in Action (CIA) research laboratory led by Robrecht van der Wel, associate professor of psychology. She also served as the inaugural Childhood Studies Undergraduate Teaching Fellow. Working with Naomi Fair, assistant professor of childhood studies, she planned and facilitated a session of the program’s Introduction to Childhood Studies course.
Albadine led her sorority, Delta Phi Epsilon, as vice president and then president, and counts creating a fashion show supporting National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) among her favorite Rutgers–Camden experiences.
Her volunteerism has also been particularly focused on supporting both health and youth. Locally, she serves with the Camden-based organization Raise the Bar, which works with youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She's also worked with the area Boys and Girls Club and the Body Empowerment Project, which promotes body acceptance among Philadelphia high school students. For her civic engagement, she was awarded the Psychology Department Award for Public Service at this year’s Arts and Sciences Honors Convocation Student Awards ceremony.
Looking ahead, she is excited to travel abroad and eager to improve her Spanish fluency, a goal she has pursued since her internship with the New Jersey Attorney General's Division of Civil Rights. There, she worked with the education and training unit, visiting schools to teach about discrimination, calling it her favorite work experience to date.
“When I'm working with children, especially those with disabilities, it's very difficult if you don't understand their language first and foremost. With Raise the Bar, the Boys and Girls Club, and through my childhood studies major, I realized there are intersectional gaps," Albadine said. "When I'm working with clients, I want to be able to understand them, especially because Spanish is on the rise at an exponential rate."
After earning her GED, deciding to go to college, and accomplishing so much at Rutgers–Camden, the significance of commencement is not lost on Albadine or her family.
"My dad went here but never graduated. He had to stop, because his father was having health issues. So, on my dad's side, I'm the first person to go to college,” she said. “And then I never graduated high school; I mean, I have a GED. So, this is kind of a big deal for me to be able to walk on the stage and say, ‘I could do four years.’ It is pretty cool.”
