I am Valerie Allen, born and raised in the grand city of Newark, NJ. I have finally completed what I began many years ago as a proud undergraduate. I am now a full-time graduate student at Kean University with a passion for educating and concentrating on M.A. English and Writing Studies.

Mother of two remarkable sons, Christopher (eldest) and Daniel (latter), and grandmother of five beautiful grandchildren: Adriana, Alana, Calla, Kaleb, and Kerian.

I earned a 4.0 GPA in language arts from elementary to high school and my first semester as a transfer student at Kean. I graduated from Kean in May 2023 with honors (cum laude and Dean’s list), was inducted into Kean’s Charter of the National Society of Leadership and Success in Fall 2020, and completed the seven-week Fast Track program of Kean L.E.A.D. (Leadership Education and Development) Spring 2021.

I am also one of the proud graduate assistants for the English and Writing Studies Program and a self-published author of I Am Inspired The Beginning. Thus, I intend to discover more within this master’s course to further my educator and writing career.

When I am not in the class setting practicing and writing or in the office assisting, I enjoy relaxing, eating, shopping and catching the latest film with my latter-born son.