Monique Cottman graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a degree in Elementary Education and minors in English, African American Studies, and Educational Theory and Policy. Monique is currently a sixth-grade teacher in the Iowa City School District. When she is not teaching, she is involved in the local teacher’s union as the union’s Vice President. She helps with organization at the local, state, and national level to support her colleagues and students. She also has recently started a Black Lives Matter chapter in the Iowa City School District. This focuses on education of black students, outreach, mentoring, social events, and more to help improve black students’ education.

Monique is from Boston and ended up applying to Penn State because her father worked for Raytheon and learned there was a location in Centre County. After applying, she came to Penn State as a Bunton-Waller fellow in the Bunton-Waller Scholars Program. When she came to Penn State, she was deciding between education, communications, and graphic design as her major. Once she met with an advisor from the College of Education, Monique felt like it was clear that education was the right choice for her.

Monique thoroughly enjoyed her time in the College of Education. She was grateful for her academic advisor pushing her to achieve success. She also enjoyed that the college provided her with a year-long internship. She was able to spend a full school year teaching in this internship program and was able to do it right in State College. She described this as “a great program that allowed me to stay close to Penn State and still get the student experience during the internship”.

During her time at Penn State, Monique was very involved in both academics and extracurricular activities. Monique loved to learn and take advantage of all the different class topics available at Penn State. She would take anywhere from twenty to twenty-four credits a semester to learn more about some of the interesting class topics offered. Outside the classroom, she was involved in the United Soul Ensemble and became a Business Manager and Advisor of the organization during her senior year. She was also involved in the Multicultural Program in the College of Education. She would provide high school students of color with tours of campus and more to help them learn about Penn State. She got involved in the Summer Research Opportunity Program at the advice of her academic advisor. Through this program she went to the University of Iowa during the summer of her sophomore and junior years to learn more about higher education and being a graduate student. This program is what led her to move to Iowa and become a teacher in the Iowa City School District.

Monique has lots of advice to offer to future and current students. This includes taking advantage of study abroad opportunities and taking those extra classes that you are genuinely interested in. She says, “If you are going into education, the most important skill is to think critically about the state of public education in the nation and consider what you are learning in your courses and how that translates to the profession and education in your job. The next generation of teachers need to be critical and push back against norms to help the students that need it”.

When Monique attended Penn State, she loved going to the football games. That was her favorite thing about Penn State, noting “there is nothing like a game day on Saturday”. She was even a part of the very first Nittanyville and still loves seeing Beaver Stadium every time she drives back to Penn State. Monique came to Penn State for the great opportunities, got actively involved in clubs and organizations, and enjoyed student life. The course of events she encountered while she attended Penn State helped lead her to where she is today, making a difference in the area of education.