Dear Students,
February is the shortest month but it often feels like the longest to me. The days are cold and still short with darkness falling long before I’m ready. I love Valentine’s Day because what’s not to love about flowers, hearts, chocolate, wearing red and celebrating love? And, I know that some people loathe Valentine’s Day with its concomitant Hallmark-induced capitalism and its pressure to claim a beloved or risk feeling like a failure. Yet, even for me, the joy of Valentine’s Day is over quickly and we are back to the sort of depressing and very time consuming task of layering on sweaters, coats, scarves, gloves, and boots before heading out even just to buy snacks.
Even so, I relished the snowstorms this winter. Fort Tryon Park, in my neighborhood, was gorgeous and it felt like the entire community came out to play in the snow, sled, build snowforts and snowmen and even a gigantic Winnie the Pooh-like snow bear. Yet the beauty is fleeting and we are left with huge black slush puddles at every intersection and way too many days of having to wear snow boots just to traverse the streets safely and dryly.
The news of a Columbia student being snatched from her dorm room and the sound of helicopters whirring above our campus covering the story made me sick to my stomach, afraid and angry, and helpless to offer anything particularly useful to reassure all of you, our wonderful S-OP students, that you are deeply valued here, and that we want you to feel safe to learn, grow, question, stretch, challenge, and be in community with us and with each other.
All of these things feel contradictory to me but also true at the same time. February is the shortest and the longest. Valentine’s Day is wonderful and hateful. The snow is beautiful and disgusting. Our learning community is precious and special and safe and it is also not. We can and do try everything in our power at TC to give you the space and resources you each richly deserve to learn, grow, challenge and be challenged, and to be in community. And, bad things happen anyway. It is true of our shared world too.
I often tell my coaching clients, “We often cannot fix tensions, or solve tensions, or erase tensions. We balance them, manage them, navigate them.” Please know that all of my S-OP faculty and staff colleagues are standing with you and alongside you, to try as best we can to navigate these exceedingly difficult tensions, to do our shared work with excitement, creativity and ease, rather than anger and fear. We cannot prevent bad things from happening, yet we can face challenges together and that is no small thing.
This poem, All at Once, by Clint Smith, from his book Above Ground, speaks to these tensions. Our S-OP colleague, Dr. Jackie Jenkins, first recommended this poem to me and it feels resonant often and especially now:
The redwoods are on fire in California. A flood submerges a neighborhood that sat quiet on the coast for three centuries. A child takes their first steps and tumble into a father’s arms. Two people in New Orleans fall in love under an oak tree whose branches bend like sorrow. A forest of seeds are planted in new soil. A glacier melts into the ocean and the sea climbs closer to the land. A man comes home from war and holds his son for the first time. A man is killed by a drone that thinks his jug of water is a bomb. Your best friend relapses and isn’t picking up the phone. Your son’s teacher calls to say he stood up for another boy in class. A country below the equator ends a twenty-two year civil war. A soldier across the Atlantic fires the shot that begins another. The scientists find a vaccine that will save millions of people’s lives. Your mother’s cancer has returned and doctors say there is nothing else they can do. There is a funeral procession in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon. The river that gives us water to drink is the same one that might wash us away.
We are with you in the All at Once of everything.
Warmly,
Current Student Profile
Danielle is a second-year master’s student in the Social-Organizational Psychology program with a focus on leadership, systems change, and institutional impact. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Howard University, concentrating in Social Psychology.
Prior to graduate school, Danielle spent five years in government and public service, including work on Capitol Hill, where she served as a liaison between community members and policymakers. In these roles, she operated at the intersection of advocacy and strategy, translating community concerns into policy conversations and working to ensure that underrepresented voices were meaningfully represented in decision-making spaces.
Danielle is also the founder of Dares to Care, a mentorship initiative designed to guide high school students through the college application process. Through structured support in college selection, personal statement development, and scholarship navigation, the program aims to expand access to higher education and equip students with the tools to confidently pursue their goals.
At Teachers College, Danielle is particularly interested in how organizational systems shape culture, influence leadership, and either hinder or foster equity. She is passionate about designing institutions that are both high-performing and humane. Her long-term goal is to build and lead initiatives that merge psychological science, strategic thinking, and social impact.
Outside of her academic and professional pursuits, Danielle remains deeply committed to mentorship, youth development, and community-building. She believes that education is one of the most powerful tools for fostering peace, opportunity, and long-term change.
Alumni Profile
Nnamdi is an alumnus of the MA in Social-Organizational Psychology program and a Captain in the United States Army. He currently serves as a Tactical Officer at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he applies his expertise in psychology and leadership in one of the Army’s most influential leadership roles, mentoring and developing cadets during their formative years as future Army officers.
Nnamdi was born in Nigeria and graduated from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communication and Philosophy. He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps through Bucknell University’s ROTC program in 2016.
Throughout his career, he has served in a variety of operational environments, both domestically and internationally in the 16th Sustainment Brigade (Germany), the 23rd Quartermaster Brigade (Virginia), and the 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade (Colorado Springs). As a Combat Advisor, he supported the development of logistics capabilities and capacity-building efforts with key partners and allies in Romania and the Republic of North Macedonia. He also holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
While serving as a Company Commander, Nnamdi discovered his passion for coaching and mentoring future leaders, a calling that continues to guide his professional path. He is also a member of the National Communication Honor Society, Lambda Pi Eta, and the International Honor Society in Psychology, Psi Chi.
Outside of his military duties, Nnamdi enjoys lifelong learning, hiking, running, soccer, and Taekwondo. He is a former member of the Columbia University Taekwondo Team and currently serves as the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Army West Point Taekwondo Team. He is also a self-taught stained glass artist. Feel free to reach out to Nnamdi via Email or LinkedIn.
Nnamdi is an alumnus of the MA in Social-Organizational Psychology program and a Captain in the United States Army. He currently serves as a Tactical Officer at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he applies his expertise in psychology and leadership in one of the Army’s most influential leadership roles, mentoring and developing cadets during their formative years as future Army officers.
Nnamdi was born in Nigeria and graduated from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communication and Philosophy. He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps through Bucknell University’s ROTC program in 2016.
Throughout his career, he has served in a variety of operational environments, both domestically and internationally in the 16th Sustainment Brigade (Germany), the 23rd Quartermaster Brigade (Virginia), and the 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade (Colorado Springs). As a Combat Advisor, he supported the development of logistics capabilities and capacity-building efforts with key partners and allies in Romania and the Republic of North Macedonia. He also holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
While serving as a Company Commander, Nnamdi discovered his passion for coaching and mentoring future leaders, a calling that continues to guide his professional path. He is also a member of the National Communication Honor Society, Lambda Pi Eta, and the International Honor Society in Psychology, Psi Chi.
Outside of his military duties, Nnamdi enjoys lifelong learning, hiking, running, soccer, and Taekwondo. He is a former member of the Columbia University Taekwondo Team and currently serves as the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Army West Point Taekwondo Team. He is also a self-taught stained glass artist. Feel free to reach out to Nnamdi via Email or LinkedIn.