Meet Pre-College Institute (PCI) alumnus Ishraqul Wara, a first-generation student and 2018 graduate from the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering. Wara lives in Clementon, NJ (Camden County) and works as a manufacturing engineer for Omega Engineering. Ishraqul will share with us how PCI helped shape his Rowan experience and where he is today.
What inspired you to choose your major? “My grandfather inspired me to be an engineer, so I got it started. [But] my first year here, I was not an engineering major. I got introduced to the engineering [program] and I became friends with many from the department. I started going into the rotation and I just applied. They accepted me, and that was the transition from PCI to an engineering major.”
How did the PCI program help you prepare for Rowan? “Many ways, I don’t think I can count all the things I learned from PCI and all the things it did for me — especially all the relationships it helped me build. It definitely helped me in my studies. [There are] so many ways they supported me throughout my four years here.”
What was it like being a first-generation student in PCI? “I think half of
us in PCI were first-generation students. So, I didn’t feel alone because we were on the same page. We understood the situation we were in. It was a mixture [in our] group, and that is why PCI is so great, it builds relationships and gives support out for people who need it.”
What are you doing currently? “I’m working at Omega Engineering as a manufacturing engineer.”
What advice would you give to our future freshmen? “Make connections.”
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Story by:
Iridian Gonzalez, senior journalism major