Anuja Badeti started interning at Bloomberg in high school, kept working there during summer breaks from college and will accept a full-time role upon her graduation from the joint B.S./M.S. program in computer science this spring. 

It's a strikingly logical career path, considering her childhood dream of being a farmer — "I really liked the idea of being able to grow food and eat it," she said — and then her move into campus politics, where she served as president of the NJIT Student Senate after not being involved until her junior year.

On May 4, celebratory glasses were raised at the signature year-end awards ceremony for NJIT’s College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA), where the incredible milestone of the college’s 40th anniversary served as backdrop to the festivities.

LIVE STREAM LINKS:

• May 11, 2022, 3 p.m.  NJIT, Doctor of Philosophy Hooding Ceremony  https://youtu.be/k7gF15btnYk

Suraj Ghumwala will soon be the first cadet from NJIT's ROTC detachment commissioned into the U.S. Space Force.

The computer engineering major from Rochelle Park said his childhood dream was to be an astronaut, and as the first person in his family born in the U.S. he felt a sense of service to the community, influenced by friends who also joined the military.

For biology graduate Xavier Reyes, his decision to hang up his lab coat in exchange for overalls to become an organic farmer is the best way he can move the needle on sustainability.

Sreya Das, graduating this spring with a bachelor's in computer science and is headed for the cybersecurity team at financial giant JPMorgan Chase, credits much of her success to involvement with activities outside the classroom.

Das joined so many NJIT student organizations and academic commitments that she practically lost count. "The number of activities she is successfully involved in is mind boggling. I call her superwoman," Ying Wu College of Computing Professor James Geller said.

Techies call it the hands-on imperative — that the best learning is by doing — and the concept is something Mark Pothen, a mechanical engineering major, takes to heart.

Pothen worked part-time this academic year as a business analyst for health care startup Axuall Inc., where he'll become an associate product manager after graduating from NJIT.