From Dropping Out to Teaching: Lauren Connors' Inspiring Journey

All Lauren Connors ever wanted was to become a history teacher. She accomplished that by doing what was least expected of an AP student and top lacrosse player at North Hunterdon High School – dropping out. 

Faced with bullying and challenges at home, Connors decided to drop out in the winter of her junior year of high school, with plans to earn her GED and start college a year early. The Clinton native succeeded, earning an associate degree in education from Raritan Valley Community College in 2019, followed by a bachelor’s degree in history and a secondary social studies teaching certification from Kean University in 2021. She then earned her master’s degree in European and Mediterranean studies from New York University in 2022. 

Now, she is living her dream at West Morris Mendham High School, where she teaches four world history classes and an International Baccalaureate global politics course. 

“I love being able to talk about history, work with history and get students excited about history,” said Connors, of Califon, who also coaches the JV girls’ lacrosse team. “A student told me ‘I never liked history until I took your class,’ and that just warms my heart.” 

Connors’ impact is widely recognized, including by her former mentor and Kean University professor, C. Brid Nicholson, Ph.D., who heard high praise about Connors’ teaching from an unexpected source – her own daughter. At the time, Connors was completing her student teaching at Madison Junior School. 

“I never mentioned that I knew Ms. Connors, but my daughter would tell me how great her social studies teacher was – and this was on Zoom in the middle of lockdown,” Nicholson said. “There is always a great moment when your student becomes a teacher, and I was very lucky to see this happen." 

Nicholson encouraged Connors to join Kean’s honors program and Abigail Perkiss, Ph.D., an associate professor of history, selected her for an internship at The Oral History Review. 

Later, at NYU, Connors researched Afghanistan's opium production and trade and attempts to stop it by foreign actors, looking at how that cycle disenfranchises farmers. Now, she is considering pursuing a doctorate while continuing her work in Mendham, with thoughts of someday teaching history at the college level. 

Connors says she engages her classes by conveying the past as an exciting story and requiring students to take notes by hand. 

“At the end of the year, I say, ‘Guess what? You just wrote your own textbook, a history of the world from the 1700s to 2015,’” Connors said. “I tell them to hold onto it because it will help them in the future.” 

Joseph Geddes, a curriculum and instruction supervisor for the West Morris Regional High School District, described her as “a ball of positive energy making meaningful connections with students while putting her unique stamp on the school.” Geddes highlighted her global politics class, where students participate in a model UN, adopting the perspectives of different nations to engage in spirited discussions. 

While Connors does not recommend dropping out as a path to success, she encourages her students to adopt the study habits and resilience that helped her overcome obstacles 

“You don't have to enjoy it,” she said, “but it will make you stronger.”