Over 150 new Americans swore their allegiance to the United States during a Naturalization Ceremony held at Rowan College at Burlington County on September 13. Wilson Baez, a current RCBC student, happily stood among them.  

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Baez knew that his aspirations would outgrow his home country. Before he decided to relocate to the United States, he was working full time and attending school at night. 

“At one point, I tried to picture my future in the Dominican Republic (DR) after finishing school, and I wasn’t really happy with it,” Baez said. “I am an ambitious type of person and regardless of how hard I worked, I knew there were limits in the DR.”

With little knowledge of English, Wilson courageously left his old life behind to finish his studies in America. After researching colleges, he chose to pursue a degree in Computing and Informatics through RCBC’s 3+1 pathway. 

“With the way that technology is evolving, I thought it would be a great idea to learn how to secure a company’s system instead of just managing it,” Baez said. “I was happy to find that RCBC offers an amazing Cybersecurity program and that they would also give me the chance to apply for the 3+1 program, which allows me to get a full bachelor’s degree on the same campus.”

During his free time, Wilson enjoys playing video games with friends, watching Japanese anime (which inspired him to try to learn the language) and hiking/rock climbing on the weekends. His primary interest, however, is to become a cybersecurity expert and work remotely, so he can travel the world as much as possible. Wilson has already visited Washington, D.C., Virginia, New York and California.  

“In 2017, I spent about a month in San Francisco taking an intensive course on computer programming languages for a nonprofit university called 42. It was an amazing experience,” Wilson recalled.  

Wilson initially chose RCBC because of its program, but after being enrolled for one year now, he sees that there is so much more the school offers.  

“The quality of education, lab equipment and personnel are the best I‘ve ever seen,” Baez remarked. 

Wilson’s story is part of RCBC’s 50 stories for 50 years. In honor of the college’s 50th anniversary, RCBC is profiling students, faculty, administrators, alumni and the college community. Anyone interested in being featured can contact rcbcnews@rcbc.edu. To follow along on social media, use #RCBC50Stories.