Commencement stories from Rowan paint a picture of opportunities near and far – NJ.com

When Ashley Hopkins walks across the stage Wednesday during a commencement ceremony at Rowan University, she will be sharing it with her brother thousands of miles away.

Brett Hopkins is deployed overseas with the New Jersey National Guard Air Force but Ashley will symbolically accept his diploma for a bachelors degree in finance, magna cum laude. She has also earned a degree from the William G. Rohrer College of Business.

I wasnt going to walk because I have one more semester for my double major in human resources, Ashley said during an interview with NJ Advance Media. But I still have enough credits for the degree now. Were both first-generation for a degree in our family and I know its something that makes my mother really proud.

The Hopkins are among a group of standout graduates singled out by Rowan during this commencement. Others include Katherine Trauger, who is headed to the University of Oxford, London, on a full scholarship for a Masters Degree and Gatha Adhikari, who survived a deadly earthquake in Nepal in 2015 and now has a bachelors degree in biomedical engineering. She is on her way to the University of Maryland for a masters and doctoral program.

Brett Hopkins, 23, sent a video and a photo of him accepting his diploma cover at an undisclosed location overseas. It is scheduled to be featured during some of the 20 socially-distanced commencement ceremonies over four days on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

He is a year older than Ashley but began college a year later. Both commuted from the Sicklerville section of Gloucester Township to Rowans main campus in Glassboro some 9 miles away.

About half of Rowans 19,000 students are commuters. The remainder live on or near the 800-acre Glassboro campus.

I did my first two years at Camden County College, Ashley said. I didnt need the full college experience. I dont think there is anything wrong with that. Everyone can have a different education and still have a good outcome.

Ashley Hopkins, right, accepted her and her brother's diploma covers during a commencement ceremony Wednesday at Rowan University, N.J. Brett Hopkins, her brother, abroad for a N.J. Air National Guard deployment.

Ashley aspires to work in human resources and is completing an internship now with an office products company. She is not sure what her brother plans to do after his deployment but said he was recently promoted to lieutenant.

Katherine Trauger, 22, of Cherry Hill, said Rowan was her safe school when she was applying to colleges. She initially wanted to pursue a career in music. Her mother is a professional opera singer and she thinks spending hours at her rehearsals when she was a child helped shape her world view.

But she decided to attend Rowan and pursue history and political science instead. Her commencement ceremony will be held Thursday.

My mother has always told me to go for it, reach for the stars, she said. Ive always been adventurous.

But she also proved to be practical. She said she couldnt turn down the scholarship package from Rowan. She also quickly learned her instructors inspired her to do great things, like dream of going abroad to attend one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

I have a professor from the history department who went to Oxford to get his degree, Trauger said. He had kind of been my mentor and was always saying you can do this Katherine you can go to the London school of economics. All along I was saying its just not possible. Its just not going to happen.

But it did.

Trauger said she plotted a path forward. It included getting published, volunteering for campaign work with local politicians and getting hired to work at a policy think tank in Philadelphia.

Kathrine Trauger graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Rowan University on Thursday.

On a whim, I sent my resume into the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia and this man Clint Watts, a political commentator and researcher on MSNBC, emailed me. He saw my resume and thought I would be a great fit.

Watt, also a former FBI agent, is working on a study on foreign intervention in the U.S. election.

I joined this research team with kids from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown and then theres me from Rowan, she said. The key thing was getting myself off campus and finding these experiences. Its a good reminder that people who are going to change the world are coming from these small state schools.

Trauger is preparing to cross an ocean in the fall to continue her academic journey. Gatha Adhikari crossed the same ocean four years ago to begin hers at Rowan.

It has been great, but its kind of bittersweet, Adhikari said during a telephone interview this week as she prepared for her commencement ceremony Monday.

My family could not be here because of COVID, Adhikari said. They are back home in Nepal. Four years ago when I came here I was alone. Today I have friends and support from everyone. I came a long way but it was worth it.

Adhikari said her entire village of Begnastal were planning to watch a live stream of her 1 p.m. ceremony. Nepal is 9 hours and 45 minutes ahead of time in New Jersey. Her village has a total population of about 300, she said. Nepal is a landlocked country in the Himalayas sandwiched between India and the Tibet region of China. Mount Everest is there and the exotic local of Kathmandu.

Back when I was a girl I never dreamed about being here, she said. Biomedical engineering for a little girl seemed impossible. It shows its possible if you believe in yourself.

Adhikari survived a 7.8 richter scale earthquake in Nepal in 2015 that killed nearly 9,000 people and destroyed more than 600,000 structures. She said she was away at school when just about everything came crashing down. Many of the buildings were made of mud and stone and laid in ruins around her. She said they lived outdoors in tents for more than a week and experienced anxious hours afterward until she was able to reach her parents.

That experience helped to shape her future aspirations.

Gatha Adhikari accept her bachelors degree in biomedical engineering this week at Rowan University, N.J.

Thats one of the reasons I decided to go into biomedical research, she said. I felt so helpless after the quake. I thought if I pursued this I would be able to help people.

Adhikaris research at Rowan involves making gels with regenerative stem cells. The research could help regrow skin that has been damaged.

She said she won a Fulbright scholarship when she was in high school in Nepal. That helped her go abroad for school. She chose Rowan because of its engineering program and its affordability.

Now she is a mentor for three male students from Nepal who also attend Rowan.

Im like their mother, she said. I do everything for them. I was like an alien when I first came. I can vibe with the people now. This is my home.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com.

Read this article:
Commencement stories from Rowan paint a picture of opportunities near and far - NJ.com