Last summer, twelve Rowan College at Burlington County students signed up to become student models for the college. Over a few weeks, they participated in several photoshoots both in the studio and around the campus and became the face of the college and its brand. You’ll see their faces all over campus, on benches, posters, banners, and flyers, and they even pop up on the promotional video on the college website’s homepage.
Each student is a proud Baron, eager to represent the school they know so well. And they all have a fantastic story to tell; here are the latest two.
Emily Whitson
At the intersection of history and special education, you’ll find Rowan College at Burlington County student Emily Whitson. The two paths were destined to converge for her; she has always loved history and received special education.
“I just really want to help students that are like me because I never felt like I was able to get help in school from the main teacher in the classroom,” Whitson said. “I just really want someone to trust me, and I really want to help students realize their full potential.”
After meeting Professor of History Allison Millward, Whitson knew she had made the right decision to chase her dreams at RCBC.
“I don’t typically see female history teachers, and when I told her that I was here for history education, she just lit up and was the happiest I’ve ever seen her,”
Whitson said. “She would always have me in her office for office hours and wanted to make sure I knew everything so I was able to help students in the future.”
On the 2+2 pathway to Rowan University, Whitson remains here for a third year. She explains she’s taking her time and that RCBC helps her with resources to achieve that, attentively and gradually shaping her from a high school student to a college student.
“RCBC supports my goals just by being able to choose my classes; I love that, choosing when I can schedule them,” she said. “And the admissions counselors have been great at guiding me of what classes I need to take, what major I should choose… and I can’t mention this without talking about Donna [Vazquez] in Student Disability Services. Donna’s helped me so much. I wouldn’t be able to do college if it wasn’t for her.”
Outside of the classroom, Whitson remains an advocate for inclusion. She is president of the LGBTQmmunity, a club helping queer students know they belong on campus. She helps run Lavender Graduation, an event for queer students who don’t typically feel recognized in public spaces to enjoy their version of commencement.
“For any new student thinking about joining us, I recommend it,” Whitson said. “Even if you don’t want to join and you just want to maybe join our Discord or something just to talk to people and not show up to meetings, that’s fine. You can do what makes you feel comfortable. We just love everyone, and we just want people to join and feel comfortable.”
Rebecca Beecham
It was the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic when Rowan College at Burlington County student Rebecca Beecham’s career plans were cemented. The criminal justice major, part of a family of police and correctional officers, chose the path after witnessing firsthand how the system needed help.
“It made me open my mind,” Beecham said. “They’re good people, and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to get my degree.’ Also, it is something I just love to learn about.”
Beecham has found her criminal justice courses full of hands-on activities, and she is a fan. She has criminal justice professors Dr. Amber Ciccanti and Joseph Rizzo to thank for that. In their classes, they tested for fingerprints on water bottles, tested footprints, and heard from FBI agents, former prosecutors, and police officers.
“It pushed me to be like, ‘This is the real world; I want to go into that. I must brace myself for it; be prepared for it…. Going to classes, again and again, makes me realize I genuinely want to do this; as much as it may be hard once I get out of school and get into the field, it’s going to take some time to adjust, but that’s okay.”
Between classes, Beecham likes to grab a snack, relax in her car, and take a quick hop over to the Student Success Center to catch up with registration and advising. She also helps out with the Student Government Association and chills out in a music club with her peers by talking all about music. The modern, clean facilities in close proximity to each other make this easy and accessible, she says.
In areas of her education she found difficult, like math class, the support from RCBC and their services like tutoring have been indispensable to her success and thriving at college.
“They push me towards my goal,” Beecham said. “They don’t make it easy, they don’t make it complicated. It’s somewhere in between. It’s more so you must put in effort to pass… it makes you learn, it makes you think, it makes you open-minded. Along the way, you could find something you like, and you never knew you liked it.”
