Brookdale Student, Manalapan Woman Chosen By MTVU

LINCROFT, NJ — A Brookdale Community College student and Manalapan resident Sophia Parola was just recently selected by MTVU to be its next on-air VJ.

What's MTVU? It's a sister station of MTV that shows mostly music videos and college-oriented programming. It’s viewed by more than 9 million students on over 700 college campuses across the U.S. MTVU held open auditions at colleges nationwide. Parola, who was selected from more than 300 total applicants for the role, will host a series of paid video projects for the college-oriented cable network over the next year. Her first project was filmed on Brookdale’s Lincroft campus on Nov. 3.

“I am so honored and so excited,” said Parola, an aspiring actress. “I was speechless when I found out I had been selected. I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’ve learned to just work hard and say yes to every opportunity. I’m so glad I did, and I can not wait to get to work.”

Parola applied for the role during an open audition held for Brookdale students on the college’s Lincroft campus on Sept. 12. A 2016 graduate of Brookdale, Parola is currently studying radio and television at Monmouth University while completing a special project in communications media at Brookdale.

She also serves as an on-air host for Brookdale Television and is an active member of Brookdale’s theater program, appearing in the college’s annual Summer Shakespeare Ensemble, FestiVALL student showcase and Haunted Theater.

Photo of Parola provided by Brookdale Community College