Born and raised in a rural village in India, Rowan College at Burlington County student Bhagyasree Barman had few life paths to choose from. Would she become a school teacher, where her salary topped off at $40 a month, or settle down with a husband and grow a family? To care for her parents and disabled little sister, the paycheck of a teacher wasn’t going to cut it. And she felt limited as a housewife.

Wilkins Paul has learned a lot in his three years at Rowan College at Burlington County.

First, college is no joke. As a kid, Paul dreamed of building stadiums big enough for the National Football League. He enrolled at RCBC as a construction management major, pivoting to engineering later. A semester in, it dawned on him that this experience would pale compared to high school.