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Ever since Jason Ogbebor set foot in a chemistry classroom in high school, he knew he was destined to conduct high-level, impactful research. Looking to science legends — Mendeleev, Bohr, Einstein — Ogbebor is realizing his dreams and is on his way to pursue a Ph.D. at MIT.

Be it in a lab, in a classroom or on a soccer field, New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Cassidy Landis is focused, driven and caring. Those qualities should serve her well as she becomes a research associate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

New Jersey Institute of Technology is rarely on the minds of high school counselors in Indonesia, but things were different for student tennis player Joleta Budiman, out of suburban Bandung, West Java — "I am utterly grateful that I was given the choice because coming here really did change my life, as cliché as it sounds," she said.

New Jersey Institute of Technology served up waves of fanfare as its advanced degree graduates walked across the stage in the Wellness and Events Center in three commencement ceremonies on May 16.

In her second year at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Samantha Augustin made the difficult decision to switch majors.

Biomedical engineering gave way to computer engineering, and now Augustin is poised to pursue a master’s in cybersecurity at New York University. But without the help of an academic advisor “who patiently explained how to do it and helped me transfer and organize my courses,” the major switch could have set her back.

Samara Augustin arrived at New Jersey Institute of Technology as one of the first Mayor’s Honors Scholars and leaves as an Albert Dorman Honors Scholar and GEM Fellow.

Recently, several of NJIT’s star undergrad seniors were decorated at this month’s College of Science and Liberal Arts Awards for their diverse accomplishments across the STEM sciences.

It all started in sixth grade. Nikole Marin ’23 needed to select what she wanted to study for a class and because she didn’t want to go through the long list of choices, she selected among the first ones in the “A” section. Ultimately, that quick selection has led her to achieving two degrees from NJIT – Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture.

“I love working with building blocks, I love to draw, I love to design and create spaces ever since I was a little girl,” said Marin. “So I decided that I wanted to pursue that from the sixth grade.”

Erick Mejia’s fascinating story is adding another chapter as the Ecuadorian-native is now the first in his family to graduate college. Never forgetting his roots, the digital designer looks for ways to include his love of his home culture and country in his work.

“I moved here in 2011, knowing a little bit of English, almost nothing at all. I was missing home every single day, missing Ecuador, and nature,” said Mejia. “Over here, there's not much nature, we have the city, so coming to the city was a big change for me.”

Nervana Naguib, in a break from planning her summer travel to Egypt and autumn law school enrollment, said her undergraduate experience at NJIT was exactly what she wanted from a college.

Naguib grew up in Jersey City, attended McNair Academic High School and joined Martin Tuchman School of Management. She graduates with a B.S. in business, dual concentrations in financial technology and innovation/entrepreneurship, plus a minor in legal studies.