Chelsea Graf

Major: History

Graduate Program: Preliminary Teaching Credential Single-Subject

Where do you live and work now?

I live in Oxnard, California, and am a full-time teacher at Isbell Middle School in Santa Paula. I teach 7th and 8th grade history and one 8th grade behavior/at-risk class.

How are you furthering your education? What’s your end goal?

I have begun my Masters in Teacher Leadership at Cal Lutheran. However, I have taken the rest of this school year off to focus on my first year of teaching. I am planning on researching the effects of how healthy, trusting, and encouraging relationships between teachers and students promotes student success.

How did Cal Lutheran prepare you for your current path?

I chose Cal Lutheran because of their teaching credential program. However, I also fell into place in the history program for my undergraduate degree. I knew I would be at home and comfortable with my major and the people the moment I had my first academic advising appointment with Dr. Reaves. She made me feel at home and provided me with the tools I needs to graduate on time and successfully.

While at Cal Lutheran, I was challenged in many ways to push my limits academically and reach higher heights. The history program was one of the hardest things I have ever accomplished, but I graduated in time and with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

The credential program was the next hardest thing I have ever done. But, at the end of it all, I felt more confident entering the classroom than I would have felt in any other program. I would not be as successful had I chosen another university that does not take the time to get to know the students and propel them/challenge them towards success.

Was faculty mentorship an integral part of your education?

Faculty mentorship was a huge part of my success story. There were many hours that I spent in Dr. Reaves’ office planning, venting, modifying, and even crying in my undergrad years. She was also the most challenging teacher I had at Cal Lutheran. I could not have done it without her. I would not be as prepared as I am today without her guidance.

What advice would you give to history majors?

My first piece of advice: GET INVOLVED! I went to every event on campus and became a peer advisor. I transferred in and commuted both years, but I made my life-long friends in those two years and built some great memories.

Second piece of advice: Build a great relationship with your faculty advisor, and meet with them as much as possible. And if Dr. Reaves is not your advisor, meet her! You need her in your life. We called her “the walking encyclopedia in four-inch heels.”

Third piece of advice: Go to the Writing Center — with EVERY paper. Meet with the DAs; they are there to help you. The more eyes on your paper, the better. And utilize the library. It’s beautiful, it’s peaceful, and there are so many resources there.

Finally: Study in groups if you like that. There are rooms in the library you can use, and studying with other people will help you remember the content, and you will continue to build relationships with your peers.

How do you stay connected as a Cal Lutheran alumna?

I made some of my best friends at Cal Lutheran and I either meet with them regularly or call them often. I have been traveling during the Homecoming events, but I’m planning on going next year. I have also been to a few alumni events that the school puts on for our class year. But I mostly just stay in contact with the friends that I made during my time there.

Elizabeth Geringer

Graduate Program: Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

Elizabeth Geringer is one of 16 students – the entire first generation of candidates in the Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology program at California Lutheran University, which began classes in 2010 – to receive placement in national internships upon completion of the program.

Geringer – who will be interning with the Reiss Davis Child Study Center in Los Angeles – credits her success in large part to the Psy D program’s emphasis on experiential learning, and its unique Practicum, in which students receive hands-on training and the opportunity to apply for working positions with participating institutions.

Geringer worked for two years through the Psy.D. practicum and Ventura County Behavioral Health at Simi Youth and Family Services. There, under the mentorship of Dr. Kenneth Williams, her talent and interest in working with children led to the opportunity to develop her own unique and successful testing protocol.

“When I interviewed (with Reiss-Davis), they were completely focused on the work I had been doing. It was a more collegial conversation than interview, really. They wanted to talk about my reports, how I came to my conclusions… They were impressed with my work outside the classroom, and saw me as completely ready.”

Having returned to school at age 30 with a family of four at home, Geringer appreciates the emphasis Cal Lutheran places on discovering a sense of purpose while in school.

Elizabeth has realized her ambition to teach as well. She’s been teaching at Cal Lutheran since receiving her Master’s in Psychology in 2012, as part of the Psy D program. But for helping her to change course and find her own best path, she credits the individual attention and encouragement she received as a student:

“Cal Lutheran does a phenomenal job helping students with their individual ambitions. They are very personalized in their teaching approach. They guide and mentor each student to make sure everyone is meeting their individual goals.”

Elizabeth Geringer will receive her doctorate in Clinical Psychology after completing her internship with Reiss Davis.

Christophe Grall

Graduate Program: Preliminary Single-Subject Credential

Although Christophe Grall holds a Master in English from a university in Tours, France and a Master in French from the University of North Texas, he still didn’t feel fully prepared to take on responsibility for his own classroom, though that’s exactly what he was anxious to do.

An international student from Lyon, France, Christophe wanted his teaching credential, yes. But he really wanted to learn to teach. Close friends told him about California Lutheran University; they happened to live in Thousand Oaks. Wherever he went, Cal Lutheran kept coming up as a “very good” university for aspiring teachers. After serious evaluation, he enrolled in 2013 to earn his Preliminary Single-Subject Credential in French with an option for his Master in Education in Teacher Leadership for spring 2016.

Under the guidance of Dr. Michael Cosenza, Chair of the Learning and Teaching Department in the Graduate School of Education, Christophe ramped up rapidly and began student teaching. “Dr. Cosenza takes time to talk. He’s very professional and helped me a lot to fully integrate on campus, no small feat for an international student not used to the American educational system,” he says.

Christophe explains he was a bit disappointed with his French graduate education compared to his American experience. The French system is built on theory with little or no practical application. Cal Lutheran is known for its intensive, hands-on teaching programs, particularly in the training and preparation of future educators.

Thrilled, he’s learning theory and practice at Cal Lutheran: he claims he now understands what it is to be a teacher; how to teach; how to accommodate student learning styles; how to design lesson plans; how to set up classrooms for optimal learning; how to master time management, and more.

Dimitris Politopoulos (left) representing Greek agriculture and food production

Graduate Program: Master of Business Administration (Marketing)

I grew up in a very hard working business environment. The city of Pyrgos in Peloponnese, where I was born and raised, is at the South Western part of mainland Greece and it is a highly productive place in terms of agricultural and food production. Moreover, my undergraduate studies are on Agricultural Business.

While being a student at the MBA of the School of Management at Cal Lutheran I realized that the above background along with the valuable knowledge provided by Cal Lutheran’s academic staff couldn’t be better used but to my own business. So, instantly after my first job as a Product Specialist in Athens, I moved back to Pyrgos and established “mfasis” with Sofia Pouha. We consulted to agricultural and food producing businesses on food quality and safety as well as on marketing.

However, consulting to this type of companies and professionals it was itself growing inside me a strong will to create a brand and establish a start up on food trade and especially on high quality – localy produced goods. That is how “776 Deluxe Foods S.A.” was born. Today, I have the opportunity to implement on a daily basis what I was taught at Cal Lutheran. 
It is quite exciting.

Stephanie Saindon-Kaneen

Graduate Program: M.S. in Counseling and College Student Personnel

Preparing to graduate with your master’s degree and thinking about a career transition can be a stressful time, but not for Cal Lutheran students like Stephanie Saindon-Kaneen. She began applying for jobs in December 2013 in advance of graduating with her M.S. in Counseling and College Student Personnel. Within 30 days she had 10 responses, weeded out two, and ended up with eight offers!

She chose one from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and became its newest Resident Director of Weston Hall, looking after 450 college students (and a staff of 10 residential assistants) and dealing with all the surprising situations that crop up in a residence hall. One minute she’s mediating an unruly roommate issue, another she’s running to repair a broken water line, yet another she’s counseling an international student on how to understand American culture. And she’s able to handle it all thanks to the preparation and training she received at Cal Lutheran.

In praise of the master’s program at Cal Lutheran, she credits Diana Cherry and Elena Holumo as “great mentors” who taught her how to apply theory into practical application. In her internship alone, she underwent 150 real-time hours in a residential life experience. “I owe everything I am to Cal Lutheran,” Stephanie declares. “Everything I was learning applied to my new position, I found my passion, and I am now giving back.”