Alyssa Ware ‘18 has the UNH career fair and a social networking career site to thank for landing the job she started shortly after graduating. Oh, and the education she received at UNH in human development and family studies, which the Littleton, Massachusetts, native says prepared her well for her future.
“UNH provided me with the diversity of classes,” says Ware, whose concentration was in child development with a double minor in disability studies and education. “Luckily, I had an internship here that pushed me into the field.”
“UNH does a good job preparing you to work with children and to deal with certain situations.”
Ware works at the Nashoba Learning Group, a school for children and adults with autism located in Bedford, Massachusetts. She learned about the school at the career fair and then listed it as one of her top 10 employers of choice on the UNH Career and Professional Success online job portal. Shortly after doing so, she was invited for an interview.
“That was the first big interview I’d had, and I just fell in love with the place,” Ware says. “I really pictured myself there.”
She works one-on-one to help children and adults learn vocational skills. “It’s more of behavioral therapy, to help give them positive behaviors and basic developmental skills,” Ware says.
At UNH, her semester-long internship with the Child Study and Development Center had her assisting in the preschool classroom for five hours a day, two days a week. Part of her job was observing behavior and recording data, something she is doing with students at the Nashoba Learning Group.
“UNH does a good job preparing you to work with children and to deal with certain situations,” Ware says. She calls the UNH community “one-of-a-kind,” saying, “Everyone wants you to succeed. There’s a positive environment here.”
Knowing that it took her a little time to narrow in on what she wanted to do, Ware offers this advice to incoming students: “Really explore classes that you might not think you could sign up for. Try to check out different departments and see if there’s something there for you.”
Want to know about career options for a human development and family studies major? Check them out.
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Written By:
Jody Record ’95 | Communications and Public Affairs | jody.record@unh.edu
