Alumni Spotlight:
Jordan Toma
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology
Class of: 2012
The Journey Continues…
Motivational Speaker, Mental Health Advocate, Founder, and Best-Selling Author
For Jordan Toma ’12, Centenary University was more than a college — it was the place that helped him recognize his own potential.
A graduate of Centenary’s psychology program, Jordan has built a nationally recognized career as a motivational speaker, mental health advocate, founder, and best-selling author. Through his company, I’m Just A Kid With An IEP, Jordan works with schools, colleges, corporations, educators, students, and families to promote resilience, self-belief, mental health awareness, and a greater understanding of learning differences.

“Centenary changed my life because it was the first school that truly saw something in me that I was still trying to see in myself,” Jordan shared. “Centenary saw my potential. They saw someone who was not asking for an easy path, but for an opportunity.”
Before attending Centenary, Jordan often questioned his confidence, self-worth, and academic ability. At Centenary, he found a community that believed in him and helped him believe in himself. He credits his professors, learning specialists, Project ABLE, and the STEP-AHEAD program with helping him build the foundation for the life and career he has today.
For four years, Jordan met with his learning specialists every Wednesday at 9 a.m. Those meetings, he said, gave him a safe place to talk about his worries, anxiety, and challenges — and helped him understand that asking for support was not a weakness, but a strength.
As a Centenary student, Jordan also worked in the tutoring center and served as a resident assistant for the STEP-AHEAD program during the summer of 2011. Those experiences deepened his appreciation for mentorship, support systems, and the role caring adults can play in a student’s success.
Today, Jordan brings that same message to classrooms, auditoriums, workplaces, and communities across the country. He is the author of I’m Just A Kid With An IEP and Invisible: Don’t Forget the Kids in the Back, and the founder of My Struggle Is My Strength Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to supporting students, families, and communities through mental health awareness, resilience, inclusion, and encouragement.
Through his books, presentations, workshops, nonprofit work, and advocacy, Jordan helps students and adults feel seen, valued, supported, and capable.
“Centenary, Project ABLE, the STEP-AHEAD program, and the people who believed in me helped build the foundation I stand on today,” Jordan said. “They gave me confidence, self-worth, and proof that there was nothing I could not achieve if I kept believing, working, and using the support around me.”
Jordan’s advice to today’s Centenary students is to take a chance on themselves, even before they have everything figured out.
“College is not just about earning a degree,” he shared. “It is about discovering your strength, building confidence, learning how to ask for help, and proving to yourself that you are capable of more than you may believe right now.”
Jordan’s story reflects the heart of the Centenary experience — a community that sees potential, provides support, builds confidence, and empowers students to turn their challenges into strength.
