The 1992 gift of 100 million not only transformed Glassboro State College into Rowan University but it also transformed the life of an immigrant student. Knowing nothing about this beautiful country, my family immigrated to the US in 2013 with a hope of better life and education for me and my brother. Language barrier was biggest challenge that my family faced together. My father’s 22 years of working experience at Inductotherm Corp. paid off when he got employed by its sister company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, despite of his inability to speak English fluently. Within two months of the employment, we learnt that I am eligible for the Inductotherm Scholarship which is a full 4-year tuition scholarship.

Moving to Glassboro from Lancaster was an emotional decision as it was the first time I was going to live away from my family. However, I was looking forward to see what Rowan University had to offer me. I am currently a senior Biomedical Engineering student with minor in Chemistry and concentration in Tissue Engineering and soon to be a Rowan alumni. Throughout my four year journey, I was able to focus on my education without the financial stress as I was awarded the Inductotherm Scholarship. The scholarship was the sole reason I decided to attend Rowan University. The university that Mr. Rowan helped improved allowed me to shine. I was able to gain my confidence exponentially as I started participating in extracurricular activities which I can’t imagine myself doing them in India. It gave me opportunities prove myself as a leader by representing the College of Math and Science as an academic senator. I was able to promote vegetarianism and veganism for health and environmental purposes through my position as vice president in club called “Culture In Green”. I was able to use my skills and critical thinking through research in field of genetics. Despite of my average ability of speaking and writing English, I have co-authored a scientific paper on my research that was published in a well known journal, Elsevier. I am not only graduating with a degree but I am also graduating with the memories of everything and everyone at the Rowan University.

The scholarship I was awarded was not because I worked hard for it but it was because of my father who worked for Mr. Rowan’s companies his entire life. Therefore, I grabbed every single opportunity that came into my way to honor him by turning myself into a successful biomedical engineer as well as confident and risk-taking individual. Everything I accomplished, I owe it to my parents and Mr. Rowan. It absolutely unbelievable that I got to ride a four-year journey today that wasn’t possible without my father’s hard work and Mr. Rowan’s gift 28 years ago. One thing I am taking away from Rowan University is the quote said by Mr. Rowan, “Make a difference. Make this world a little better because you lived in it”. He made a difference in my life and I am going to take his legacy forward.