Anne-Marie Afrasiniei, a junior Health Science major, chose Stockton with little hesitation.

“When I first visited, I fell in love with the campus. I loved the size of it. I knew that the classes weren’t going to be big, and I’m really big on getting to know my teachers, so that was a huge selling point for me,” said Afrasiniei of Dumont, New Jersey.

Growing up, she aspired to join the medical field and follow in the footsteps of her mother, who worked as a medical assistant.

“She would always come home with all of these inspirational stories about how patients were thanking her. When they were suffering, she made them feel welcomed and okay. I always wanted to be able to provide that for people too,” Afrasiniei said.

It was not until recently that Afrasiniei declared her concentration in Pre-Occupational Therapy.

“I can’t imagine going through life not being able to use either my arms or my legs. I realized that I want to help people get through this – to regain their independence in life,” she said.

Afrasiniei works as a student aid in the School of Health Sciences office.

“Working on campus has helped me to grow up and gain a sense of responsibility as well as time management skills. It was a bit of a challenge at first, but it is definitely manageable,” she said.

Afrasiniei also recently joined the OT Club’s executive board. Through this leadership position, she has been able to help plan fundraisers and help other students gain experience in the field.

Afrasiniei received the Vera King Ferris Scholarship in 2016 and the Melvin J. Levine Memorial Scholarship in 2017. These foundation scholarships have helped her throughout her academic journey by lowering her tuition expenses so much so that she did not have to take out extra loans.

“I can’t thank these donors enough,” she said. “These scholarships really have made an impact on my career at Stockton!”

Afrasiniei will graduate in the spring of 2019, and she plans to attend graduate school either at Stockton or another New Jersey institution. Her long-term career goal is to work at a geriatric facility, hopefully close to home.

“I’m so close to my family. I would love to be able to stay and work somewhere near them,” she said.

--Reported by Sarah Galzerano