Student Spotlight: Lauren Bozzi

Lauren Bozzi is one of those rare students who stands apart from most university students.  She’s not a loud, aggressive type who seeks attention; in fact, she tends to the quieter side.  And, yet, she commands the attention of others.  Students admire her; professors speak glowingly of her. The School of Communication and Media relies upon her to put its best face on the school.  Lauren’s quiet assurance, her maturity, and her desire to serve make her the very best reflection of Montclair State University’s School of Communication and Media.

Lauren is a senior Communication and Media Arts major in the School of Communication and Media. She is SCM Student Ambassador and represents the school at both on-campus and outside events. In that capacity, Lauren serves as a tour guide of the school’s new Morehead facility.  Additionally, she assists the professional staff and faculty by facilitating campus or school events.  Lauren has developed and presented interactive workshops both on and off site for hundreds of high school students and their parents interested in the communication and media field. She has also led sessions that focus on creativity, verbal communication, and mediated storytelling.

A sure sign of her maturity, Lauren appreciates the practical aspects of the communication and media industry, but she is more interested in the social and cultural implications of mass mediated messages, and the ways in which those messages are challenged by the interconnectedness of social media.

“If mass media shapes our collective understanding of the world, then social media makes it much more difficult to maintain the dominant ideologies previously achieved by print and broadcast news. Now, with so much user-generated content from around the globe available with the swipe of a smartphone screen, it’s interesting to see people reevaluate and negotiate ideas that once seemed universal and intuitive.”

The Associate Director of the School, Dr. Christine Lemesianou, speaks glowingly of Bozzi.  “Lauren embodies our school’s mission.  She has taken full advantage of the many and varied opportunities offered to all of our students.  She has excelled academically, as shown by her research and membership in the national communication honor society, Lambda Pi Eta. She has also taken full advantage of our applied opportunities, turning an internship experience into an actual paying job. And, most importantly we encourage our students to be engaged.  Once again, Lauren shines.  Her work as a school ambassador has been extraordinary, whether it’s planning and hosting events or generating innovative ideas for presentations and workshops.”

When she’s not in class or representing the school as a student ambassador, Lauren works as a copywriter for Hudson Horizons, a Web and marketing agency – the job she obtained after completing a summer internship. She is excited about graduating next May, and says her future will include graduate school, travel, and lots of writing. Eventually, Lauren hopes to make her mark as an academic in the communication field, helping students understand the importance of media literacy in both creating and understanding media. Lauren attributes her academic aspirations to the “honest and inspiring” professors at Montclair who have constantly pushed her to take creative risks and do her best work. “I want to give future students the same gift my professors have given me: the ability to think both critically and creatively.”

There’s no question that when Lauren Bozzi stands in front of future students, she will most assuredly bestow upon them the gifts given to her, but she’ll also pass along some her own unique gifts as well.  And, that’s a good thing.