Meet Gina Costanzo, senior Special Education major and founder of the Humanitarian Yoga Club here on campus. She has been super involved during her time here at TCNJ and is really excited to begin the next steps towards her future goals. Currently she is the president of Humanitarian Yoga Club, member of Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society, and a sister of Theta Phi Alpha, which she joined this fall.
Gina will actually still be attending TCNJ in the fall, as she embarks on her fifth year here to complete her Masters degree. She will also being doing global student teaching next spring possibly in South Africa. After her degree is fully completed she hopes to begin teaching and work towards opening up her own yoga studio since she is a certified yoga instructor (check out some of her classes in the rec center!)
When asked what she has learned throughout her undergraduate years at TCNJ, she told me an answer that I believe we all need to listen to. With college being so stressful, Gina learned, “to stress less and focus my energy on the things that really matter.” She learned that taking time for herself allowed for her college experience to be more rewarding and helped her gain a new perspective on life. For advice to incoming freshman, Gina again noted the importance of living in the moment and dividing time between classes and plans with friends. She exclaimed, “Enjoy every minute of college because it goes way too fast!”
When asked about her thoughts about graduation, Gina took a second to find the words to answer. It has to be a difficult question to almost every senior that is about to take that leap into the next step in their lives and I can only imagine how I am going to feel when I am asked this same question in two years. Gina is not only sad to be graduating TCNJ, but she is excited and nervous for everything that is to come. She knows that there will be so many possibilities and paths for her in the future, but she is sad to be leaving the place where she has met so many incredible people. This next year will be a time for adjustment, as a majority of her friends graduate and start their future careers, but she knows that these friendships are the ones that will last a lifetime.
As a member of the same new member class as Gina in Theta Phi Alpha, I have come to know her as a very strong, independent person who has been an incredible role model for my fellow sisters and I. She will be the first one to graduate from our new member class and although she will still be here next year, things will be somewhat different as she progresses into the alumni phase of our sorority. On behalf of your fellow Alpha Pi’s, we love you so much Gina and wish you all the best in everything that you do in the future. We are so excited to be able to spend another year with you and although it may be somewhat different then this year, we will never stop making the most incredible memories together as a group. You mean so much to us and we can’t wait to see where you will go! #NOTSeniorYear