Name: Nina Robertson
Class Year: 2017
Current Title/Employer: Bilingual Parent-Child Specialist at New York University School of Medicine
1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?
I deliver a pediatric-based early intervention program for babies, newborn to age 3, from at-risk populations. I work with mothers and infants at their well-child appointments and talk about ways to promote their baby’s learning and school-readiness through reading and play.
2. What if any, unplanned events connected you to your industry and your first employer after Holy Cross?
My senior year roomate saw the job posting through a cognitive development email chain and said, “This sounds perfect for you!” I got really excited and applied right away. During my interview, I mentioned my involvement in research with Professor Anggoro from the Psychology department. As it turns out, the woman I was speaking with knew her when she was in undergrad at Northwestern University and had worked closely with her during her time there. Professor Anggoro was also one of my references for the job, so it all came full circle!
3. How did you learn/decide it was a good fit for you?
I’ve always been interested in the cognitive and linguistic development of young children and the ways in which they learn. I loved that this job gave me hands-on experience interacting with infants and mothers, and also provided me with the opportunity to work with Spanish-speaking families and give back to the Latino community. I was also inspired by the program’s goal to address the school achievement gap among different socioeconomic levels.
4. What were you involved in when you were on campus?
I was in Off the Record a cappella group, SPUD Parsons Hill, a greeter at mass, performed in Noche Latina, Holy Cross Choir and Chambers Singers, and club field hockey.
5. What was your major and how has it affected your career decisions?
I majored in psychology because I’ve always been interested in how people think, behave, and interact. I knew that I loved interacting and working directly with people, and I searched for a job and career that would allow me to have direct contact with patients. During my senior year, I became involved in a cognitive development lab, which sparked my interest in research and gave me the experience I needed to pursue a research-oriented job. I originally had planned to double major in both math and psychology, but decided to focus solely on psychology during my senior year when I realized that it aligned more closely with my career goals.
6. What are one or two skills that you developed at Holy Cross that you use in your work?
Interpersonal skills: the way that I learned to interact with my classmates and professors during my time at Holy Cross translated directly to being able to communicate effectively with my coworkers and supervisors in the working field. Similarly, the time management skills that I learned at Holy Cross, such as creating a schedule to balance multiple ongoing projects at once, helped me learn the most efficient ways of tackling my workload within specific timeframes.
