Marissa Kindberg, a senior Political Science major from Paramus, NJ, embodies determination in everything she does. In her four years at The College of New Jersey, she’s succeeded in academics, taken on leadership positions in campus organizations and perfectly paved the way to a successful career. Before she graduates and begins law school at Rutgers, Newark, we had to feature her and showcase her many successes.
At the beginning of junior year, Marissa began a year-long internship for the New Jersey State Assembly. She interned for the 15th District, and during her time there, Assemblywoman Elizabeth Muoio was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by Governor Phil Murphy — an exciting time for the office and the community.
“It was incredible getting to work in policy at the state level,” Marissa said. “It’s interesting to see the differences between how state and municipal governments function and work together.”
Following that internship, Marissa continued working under Reed Gusciora, the Mayor of Trenton, throughout senior year. “It dealt a lot with working in the community to help get policy ideas working,” she said.
In addition, Kindberg helped set up a larger internship program within the city and worked with the Innovation Challenge Grant — a partnership between the City of Trenton and the surrounding colleges/universities (Rider University, Mercer County Community College, Princeton University and Thomas Edison State University) — which seeks to create a collaboration for innovation between Trenton and the schools to foster growth. She also attended meetings with city and state officials.
At TCNJ, Marissa is a member of the Honors Program and Theta Phi Alpha Sorority, through which she’s held three leadership positions; B+ Chair, Greek Relations Chair and Greek Week Chair.
When asked about graduation, Marissa said “It’s so sad! The thought of leaving TCNJ after these past few years is heartbreaking.” Overall, she said she’s learned copious amounts and feels fulfilled from all the school and her peers have given her.
“I can’t believe that I won’t be back next year, walking through our beautiful campus or living ten feet away from my best friends.”
Looking forward, Marissa’s excited to get a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree at Rutgers Newark. “This is something I’ve wanted since sophomore year of high school,” she said.
After that goal is attained, Kindberg shared that her career goals aren’t atypical. She’s not aiming for a certain salary or position of power. Rather, she said “I want to work towards a cause I truly care about. I just want to do something meaningful with my career.”
Outside of school and the office, traveling is one of Marissa’s biggest passions. Whether it’s a weekend road trip, a quick visit to the beach or vacation that’s a plane ride away, she enjoys getting to see new places and trying new experiences.
TCNJ won’t be the same without Marissa in the community, but her friends-turned-family whom she parts from can honestly say she’ll never be forgotten.
As Marissa said herself, “I’m lucky to have gone to a school that makes saying goodbye so hard!”