From Pre-K to Commencement, These Siblings Have a Lifelong Rutgers Connection

Joe and Alessa Manuola earned their master's degree, coming full circle since arriving on the Douglass campus for preschool as toddlers

Joe and Alessa Manuola first came to Rutgers for school when they were toddlers.

This week, the brother and sister from Bordentown graduated with their second degree from the university- earning their master's from School of Social Work.

"We are very much a Rutgers family," said Alessa Manuola, 23.

The two, who are 18 months apart, went to pre-school at the Rutgers Psychology Child Development Center, which provides early childhood education for ages 1-5. Their mother Jennifer Manuola worked there since she was an undergraduate at Rutgers herself.

They spent their summers at Rutgers camps, and returned as counselors when they were too old to attend. Later, they came to Rutgers for their undergraduate degrees, both studying psychology and graduating in 2024.

"Rutgers is as much home to them as our house is, and they've spent more time on campus than they have in our backyard," Jennifer Manuola said.

There was never any doubt, the two said, that they would end up at Rutgers.

"I always wanted to go to Rutgers because it was a place that was familiar for me," Joe said. "It was also affordable."

The siblings' Rutgers story began well before they were born. Their parents, Jennifer and Joe, met in 1993 at Rutgers in their first year of college. Joe graduated in 1997 from Rutgers Business School and Jennifer followed the next year with a bachelor's degree in English and psychology.

The summer before her graduation, Jennifer Manuola began working as a part-time student at the Child Development Center. Eventually, she landed a full-time job there teaching kindergarten, a position she held until 2005 when she became the center's director.

Joe and Alessa were first involved in research when they were pre-schoolers at Rutgers-as subjects in studies. The center, which is run by the Psychology Department in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick, provides an opportunity for researchers throughout the university to study child development.

Estelle Mayhew was one of those researchers. Alessa was part of Mayhew's research twice - first as an 18-month-old on children's cognitive and developmental abilities and a few years later in a pilot study on children's understanding of time. By chance, years later, as an undergrad psychology major, Alessa ended up in two of Mayhew's classes.

"It was a full-circle moment," Alessa said.

The siblings grew up hearing the terms and principles associated with field of psychology, sparking an interest in the discipline.

"Part of the reason I did psychology for my undergrad is because of everything I've experienced at a young age through the Child Development Center," Alessa said. "I would hear my mom and her peers talk about it and I'm like, 'Oh, that sounds really interesting,' so I ended up going into it."

For their master's degrees, they chose social work for different reasons. Alessa felt it offered more opportunities for her career path, and Joe said the field resonated with him.

"I'm somebody who likes to see other people get empowered, to get help and build skills and grow from it," said Joe, 25, who wants to be a therapist. "Also, I like working directly with the population. With psychology, it was more research-orientated, at least what I was looking at."

Alessa added, "Psychology and social work are very connected, but ultimately I chose social work because I felt there was more versatility in the degree."

She wants to work with adolescents or college-age students. "That population, they are at a very important stage in their lives when they're finding a lot about their identity, who they want to be, what their goals are in life," Alessa said. "I feel like intervening at that age is really essential for successful outcomes."

They still remember swinging and sliding on the playground of the Child Development Center, and even though they're finally leaving Rutgers as students, they expect to return.

Their younger sister, Aria, 13, was enrolled at the center at 5 weeks old, possibly making her the youngest child ever to enter Rutgers. So, they think Aria follows in her family's footsteps.

"We'll be back, maybe not as students," Alessa said, "but Rutgers is still with us."