I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, after my parents immigrated to the United States. My father is from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and my mother is from Nassau, in the Bahamas. I’m fortunate to have learned to speak Haitian Creole as a child from my grandmother. I’ve been able to speak it since the age of 8, and it has helped me communicate and quickly connect with others who also speak the language. I’m grateful to be apart such a unique culture, and I’d love to visit Haiti one day.
I grew up in the Canton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Canton High School in 2017. During my college search, my parents fortunately supported me in choosing a college that best fit for me and my goals. I always wanted to work with students in some capacity but was unsure exactly how best to do that. My freshman year in college, I had a part-time job tutoring students who needed help in their psychology classes, and that got me excited to seek a career working at a university.
I earned my college degree and immediately enrolled in a graduate program for a Master of Higher Education with a concentration in student affairs. In graduate school, I worked as an academic success coach supporting younger college students who genuinely wanted to do well in their classes. It was rewarding to help students from various backgrounds succeed and the experience taught me allot about the transformational power of higher education.
An important takeaway from my college journey is that you do not need to know at a young age what you want to do for the rest of your life. If you have a major in mind, that’s great. Just know that it’s fine if you don’t know, and it’s ok to change your mind as you get exposed to new and exciting opportunities. BSU is the kind of place where we will help you figure all of that out and we’ll continue to support you every step of the way until you’ve crossed the graduation podium with your college degree. That’s how we measure student success — one student at a time.
One of my favorite aspects of being an admission counselor and diversity recruitment coordinator is helping prospective students from underrepresented populations believe they can succeed in college. Being a woman of color myself, I’m grateful that prospect students from similar communities can see someone that looks like them on the other end and that it is possible to be successful in college. There are barriers to getting in college and being successful as a student, but they can be overcome with motivation and proper support. My job is to provide students with encouragement and advice in applying to BSU. Once here, this is the kind of place where we will support you in becoming the person you aspire to be, and the sky is the limit.
Adina Jean, MEd
Diversity Recruitment Coordinator
& Admission Counselor
Bridgewater State University
a5jean@bridgew.edu
508.531.1198
