Today’s Project 100 memory from Eric Mayer.  He was born in Westwood, Bergen County, New Jersey.  He attended public schools and graduated from Pascack Valley High School in 1999.  His father was an insurance executive, and his mother was a homemaker.  After graduating in 2003 with a history degree, he worked as a sales consultant for two separate companies, one in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and one in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.  After falling out of love with sales, in 2005, he moved back to Bergen County and began working in the client services division of a large, national marketing company.  He remained at that company for almost 17 years, holding different roles throughout his time there.  He worked with clients of all sizes, including Fortune 500 companies, and was the liaison between those clients and the different divisions within the company.  In 2022, he left that company and joined LivePerson, a conversational AI provider, where he fills a strategic account management role and helps drive client usage of LivePerson’s platform. 

*****

Of all the colleges that I toured, I felt best about the vibe and feel of Rowan University.  The location was great for me.  It was close to Philadelphia and to the beach and only two hours from home.  I also just really enjoyed my visit to the campus.  I chose history as my major because it was one of the things that I felt passionate about although I had no particular plans about using my degree for anything after graduating. 

During my first semester, I kept going home on weekends but in my second semester, I forced myself to stay on campus.  That was when I truly began to make friends and enjoy the full college experience.  During my sophomore year, I joined the hockey club team. There had been an earlier team, but a friend of mine restarted the club and I became the starting goaltender, which was an incredible experience.  We had many weekend road trips for away games and I was able to meet a lot of people all across campus as a result of playing hockey.

Of all the classes I took at Rowan, it may not be surprising that the ones taught by the history professors stand out to me.  I remember many great classes with you, Dr. Carrigan, Dr. Heinzen, and Dr. Blake.  I also had a great summer course with Dr. Morschauser.  He was incredibly engaging.  What I liked about you, Dr. Carrigan, was your passion for the subject matter.  Dr. Kress’s World War II course was one of my favorites because he had such deep knowledge of the subject.  All of the classes with the history faculty that I took were engrossing and made history come alive, not just to someone like me who had interest in the subject, but to all of the students.  As I look back now, I understand more how much effort it must have taken to make those courses so engaging and relevant to the entire class.

While one might not think that a history degree would be a great fit for my current job, I feel like the skills that I learned in my major have been of great help.  In particular, the skills that one learns in order to be a successful history researcher are transferable to many of the things that I do today.  The preparation and organization that one needs to do to be able to succeed at that research are essential for my work today.  I also consider the insistence on attention to detail and accuracy in historical writing to be of great value to me.  Finally, the general understanding of context and the way that the past shapes the present gives me a helpful perspective as I work in an industry that is always changing. 

I look back fondly on my time at Rowan.  I am still in contact with one good friend that I met there, over twenty years later.  All in all, I wouldn’t change anything.

*****

This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100,” the collection and sharing of one hundred memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  Thanks to Laurie Lahey for helping proofread and edit the final versions.  Email carrigan@rowan.edu with questions or corrections.  You can find the Link to all of the Project 100 entries on the Web:  https://chss.rowan.edu/departments/history/alumni_highlights/project_100/