Name: Mallory Rothstein
Year: senior
Major: psychology, business management minor
Hometown: Freehold, NJ
HCSB: What are all the activities you are involved with on campus?
Mallory: “I co-founded Boobs & Bras. I’m a student ambassador. I’ve been in student government for the past 3 years, this year as an assistant and in the past years been elected. I have been a TA in the LDS 102 class for two years. I was a research assistant for Dr. London and Dr. Cushenberry. I did the campus involvement project for 2 years. I’m on the violence and intervention and prevention committee this year. I helped plan Roth Regatta this year. Those are the major things.”
HCSB: Which one of those did you really make a connection with?
Mallory: “I think that the best thing for me honestly, accomplishment wise, was being in student government. I’ve gotten to do a lot of things because of that. The second thing was being a TA in Dr. London’s class because I feel as though a lot of the students that I’ve been able to teach in those classes I’ve been able to help in other ways and they can come back to me and be like ‘Hey, I got to do this thing because of you.’ Those are the two biggest things on campus that I’m proud of.”
HCSB: How do you think all these activities have changed your Stony Brook Experience?
Mallory: “Well they’ve made it a lot busier. I think that also I’ve been able to meet a lot of people and that’s the best part. I get to meet all these people here at Stony Brook and have good people in my network. For example, you *points to HCSB writer Serena * I met you and I connected you with Dr. Cushenberry. All this stuff I’ve gotten do to at Stony Brook is because of the network I’ve built and being able to connect to all these people.”
HCSB: How have you been able to balance your schedule?
Mallory: “In the past I’ve answered this question with “Ya, I’ve been able to balance it well.” But this year in every big setting I’ve said, “Ya, I have not been able to balance.” I think that’s been the hardest part about Stony Brook is learning how to balance. This semester was my best semester of balancing everything and being able to prioritize. In the past I’ve struggled with that. Sleep and school come as low priorities to me like I care way more about my career and meeting people and being able to build a network than acing a test that might not mean anything in the long run. Sleep…I don’t know I somehow do without it. Sleep and school are the two things I have kind of failed at balancing but in the long scheme of things, everything has worked out and I don’t regret anything.”
HCSB: Who do you think has helped you and inspired you most along the way?
Mallory: “Faculty-wise, Dr. Manuel London because as a freshman he really believed in me and let me research in his lab. Literally just when I asked him if he did research, he said yes and asked me to join him. Him believing in me right away really helped me out throughout the rest of my undergraduate career because he gave me so many different opportunities. For example I would not have met my girlfriend without him because he showed me the program that we both did off campus. Another reason I like him is because he has not really been involved in USG or any other crazy stuff. He is an academic type person but he had helped me a lot with different leadership opportunities, as well. To this day he still helps me. I meet with him at least a couple times a semester. Student-wise, it’s been a lot of different people at a lot of different times.”
HCSB: What advice would you give to someone looking to get more involved and succeed?
Mallory: “Go to as many events as your schedule allows. Obviously don’t do too many. Go and talk to people and don’t go there with the intention of meeting someone that’s going to change your life. Connect with people. Whether it’s a big or small connection, those people are very important to your success long term. For me, it’s been my network that’s been my support system. It gave me my opportunities and helped me out and backed me up if I needed them to recommend me for something. Stony Brook is so big and there’s so many opportunities and people can get overwhelmed with knowing where to go but if you start with meeting one person and ask them about their experience and who they know, they can lead you in the right way. Talk to people and learn from them. Then everything will work out along the way.”
HCSB: What kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind?
Mallory: “I want people to know that I really cared. I cared about every single person in my network. For me, it’s not just about my success but the people around me succeeding. A good example of this is when I was nominated for a student life award and Christine Publik, who I’m very good friends with, won. Everyone was coming up to me saying they were sorry I lost and I was like no; my friend won, so I won. I was shouting and cheering for her. I’m so proud to see not just myself succeed but seeing my core group of friends and people that I’ve meet along the way succeeding just as much as me or even more and being able to cheer them. I want people to know that I genuinely cared about the success of my friends. My grades probably should be at a 3.7 or above, but I’ll be in my office and my friend will come and need to talk to me for four hours and I have a test. But what’s more important? A test or making sure that this person is okay? People that have meet me and been in my network know that I have your back 100% if you need something.”
HCSB: What does the future hold for you?
Mallory: “You don’t have to have everything figured out. For me, I think the reason I succeed is because of my network and randomly getting involved. I got involved with USG because someone asked if I want to run. So I have no plans for what I want to do after graduation in terms of having a job set up. I plan to work in New York City, somewhere in a non-profit social enterprise. Long term, I’m planning on being a CEO or president on a non-profit and hopefully starting something of my own. And rule the world with my girlfriend alongside me.”