SC&I senior Luna Laliberte was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., but her family moved often. As a result, she followed an untraditional route to college, graduating from an online high school in Camden, N.J.

After gaining admittance to Rutgers, Laliberte started out as an English major and creative writer minor but found that her course of studies wasn’t “getting at the crux” of what she wanted to do — be a force for good in her community and use her creativity to help solve world problems. In her sophomore year, Laliberte enrolled at the School of Communication and Information (SC&I) as a Communication major (she’s also minoring in education) and found it to be a good fit. So good, in fact, that she applied and was accepted into the dual degree BA/MCM program and expects to receive her master’s degree in 2022.

Commenting on her decision to switch her major from English to Communication, Laliberte said, “I realized that communication is just an umbrella term. At SC&I, I could study things like digital media and instructional design and use my tech skills to improve online instruction and reach communities that were otherwise forgotten. I found mentors here who were doing these things and they opened many doors for me.”

Vikki Katz, Associate Professor of Communication, is one of those mentors. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced SC&I to move from in-person to online instruction during the spring 2020 semester, Laliberte was enrolled in Katz’s Communication Research class. This turned out to be fortuitous timing. Katz’s research into how working class, low income, and immigrant children and their families adopt and integrate technology into family routines and learning experiences meshed well with Laliberte’s personal knowledge and her desire to be an advocate for education equity.

In April and May 2020, Katz, along with Professor and Chair of Journalism and Media Studies Amy Jordan, surveyed 3,113 U.S. undergraduates about remote learning experiences. After concluding their survey, Katz involved Laliberte.

“Professor Katz saw that I was searching for ways to get my feet wet with research and help out with digital instruction and instructional design,” said Laliberte. “She sends me research so that I can better understand how things are coded and how to approach qualitative measurements.”

Katz, Jordan, and doctoral student Alyvia Walters wrote a five-part series on Medium.com in late August 2020 titled, “Left to Their Own Devices: How College Students Manage Remote Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic and How Faculty Can Improve It,” based on the survey findings. Knowing that Laliberte was able to offer a unique perspective on remote education, Katz invited her to review the series and to independently write a post from the student perspective. Laliberte did, producing “3 Tips for a Remote Fall 2020.”

In October 2020, Katz asked Laliberte to participate in a virtual forum presented by The Chronicle of Higher Education, “What Students Wish Their Professors Knew,” an unusual opportunity for an undergraduate. Laliberte immediately said yes. “Even though it was scary to participate in the webinar, I now know that I can get through it and still breathe. The audience was amazing and I even had fun.”

Reflecting on Laliberte’s contributions thus far, Katz said, “Luna is an absolute credit to our Comm department, and to SC&I more broadly. She exemplifies all that we hope for in our students: innate curiosity and a desire to use their talents to make opportunity more accessible for those who follow after them."

Although Laliberte’s not sure what her future holds, she is grateful for the many opportunities that have come her way through SC&I and she advises students to be adaptable. “It feels like the world is about to explode and implode at the same time but that’s okay — great change most often happens in times of great uncertainty. Change isn’t a bad thing; it’s just different and it’s scary. I believe we become our best selves when we overcome fear.” By embracing new opportunities and traveling outside her comfort zone, Laliberte is well on her way to becoming her best self.

Photo: Courtesy of Luna Laliberte COM ’21