Humans of Rutgers University

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11/28/2025

“I do biomedical engineering. I got my bachelor’s from here as well, and I had a case of osteomyelitis my junior year of high school. I didn’t know what I wanted to do at that point, but that really inspired me because that trust in technology, being able to lay back and know that they got me, so being able to reinforce that in industry is — that’s what I do it for, and that means everything to me. So that’s why I do it.

“(On having confidence in engineering) The reinforcement that it was doable, that there are many people that have been able to do this, and that you do have the time. I’m in a very fortunate situation where, while I worked part-time, I did not have to worry very much financially about school. So I was very fortunate to have a lot of time and energy to dedicate towards school … And that there were a lot of people that have graduated before me and have gotten jobs before me … It was very difficult, but … I had a lot of support from my friends.”

- Jonathan Giglia, School of Engineering, Class of 2025, alum

📸: Evin Roldan

11/21/2025

“I would say [what drives me is] knowing that I have to make people proud. It’s one of my biggest drivers. I would say, my mom, she is always on me. She calls me and wakes me up for class on the days that I oversleep, or I’m about to oversleep, and here’s her call. I’m like, oh my god, hey mom! She keeps me going, and she keeps me on task. Although I’m older and everything, I still appreciate it. She keeps me going.”

[If you don’t have a support system] “I would say journal. Definitely journal, and also find good friends. I feel like this campus is huge. You know, you can find people that can be in your corner or that can help support you.”

- Ciara Bennett, School of Communication and Information, Class of 2026

📸: Ashley Caldwell

11/07/2025

“I think one thing I’ve struggled with is my confidence in what I’m capable of doing. I think it’s very easy to get in your own head and to allow people to tell you who you are (and) aren’t. I think it’s a work in progress of telling yourself and showing yourself through your actions that it is possible to do things.

“I think (I struggled with) talking to people and making friends and meeting new people, especially with COVID happening. I kind of felt like I was always alone. But I think just putting myself out there a little bit kind of showed me that I’m not as alone or different as I seem to be, and it’s very easy to find a great community around you.

“I would say my mom (made me who I am today). I think she’s someone who tells me where I’m going wrong, but she also kind of never tells me not to do something. She’s always been like, ‘Just try it. That’s fine. Just try it. You never know what you’re gonna get.’ … So, even if she doesn’t necessarily understand it, she gives me the space to just be.”

- Manasa Magesh, School of Social Work, Class of 2025

📸: Evan Leong

10/03/2025

“The biggest part (of the change between high school and college) is definitely the independence. I feel like I have freedom to do a lot more than I did in high school because now I have more gaps between my classes, and I have more freedom and power over the type of classes that I take. I can also get food anytime that I want. So when I have a large gap, I can go take a bus to College Ave and then go hit up a place by myself. I think I also value my alone time a lot more now because before, I used to think, ‘Oh, I need to be with people all the time.’ But in college, you realize the campus is so huge — you’re not always going to be able to meet up with your friends. ... It’s just enjoying the little things more. ... It’s really fun, actually.
“I think (my advice to first-years would be) just push through it. If you’re struggling, if things are hard right now, it may seem like it’s never going to get better. And I know it’s cliché to say, ‘Oh, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel,’ but that’s so true. You think it’s the end of the world — everything is crumbling, you have 10 assignments due, you have no friends, you’re not going to parties, or you miss your parents, whatever it is. Push through it. ... If you need to cry, cry it out — you’re going to feel better. But just know that if you keep working hard and you keep just believing in yourself and trying to stay happy and positive, things will get better no matter what.”

- Veronica Manevich, School of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2028

📸: Aditya Suresh

09/19/2025

“I’m really into films, movies — it’s kind of a recent-ish passion. But I think there’s just so much to explore within the world of cinema. My favorite movie’s pretty consistently been “Fallen
Angels,” directed by Wong Kar-wai.”

“It does a lot of creative stuff with how it’s filmed, how it’s edited. And I think the themes of it are— there’s a sense of loneliness in a big city or in a big world and how people deal with that. And I think it’s a very beautiful movie.”

“I think (the themes) make me appreciate the different ways that people exist and go throughout their lives.”

- Aya, School of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2024

📸: Leigh Lustig

03/26/2025

"I’m deeply passionate about skating. It helps me destress from school, especially. When I have the time, I like to just go out, skate with some friends. (The) majority are also from Rutgers. The others have been people around the area, and we just have fun and just learn … We always fail a trick, but we keep going.

“School (has) always been my biggest struggle in life, which is why I’m actually graduating a year late. I feel like with the shift from the pandemic — my study habits have been just really irregular. It’s been hard to get back into the flow, even years after, but now I have to focus more.

“I guess this is something I’ll always just be working on. It’s all just a mental thing with time management and just having that drive to be determined to really understand the course.”

- Julie Vu, School of Engineering, Class of 2026

📸: Zoe Torralba

02/14/2025

“The people I must give credit to for shaping who I am today are undoubtedly my debate coaches over the years. Debate has been an irreplaceable part of my teenage years. It has seen my ups, my downs and my averages, and my coaches were an irreplaceable part of that journey. They helped me understand what debate was, and they helped me find the motivation to keep pursuing debate after each and every failure. And outside of debate, they were friends. They were mentors that gave me nuggets of wisdoms and pieces of advice that I still hold dear to myself to this day."

“A passion of mine is, well, debate. What started off as an excuse to spend time with my crush became an activity I dedicated an unhealthy amount of time towards. Then the sport of critical thinking and arguing expanded my horizons from just arguing and doing debate to judging debate to teaching debate and to organizing massive debate events on the national and global scale.”

-Viet Phan, School of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2028

📸: Nathan Pham

01/30/2025

“I'm a freshman in engineering — hopefully, biomedical engineering."

“Medicine is cool, but I don't want to go to medical school. I know you'll ask other biomedical engineers, and they'll say some variation of ‘I want to help people.’ We all know it's the real thing. They all think medicine is cool, but they don't want to go to med school. Or the really insane ones that do think medicine is cool and do want to go to med school — nod of respect to those people because I don't know how they do it."

“Like every other little girl in STEM, Marie Curie (has inspired me). She is the first woman to get a Nobel Prize, the first person to get two Nobel Prizes. And it's just with the women that came before me — Marie Curie, Susan B. Anthony — it's them who paved the way for me to be able to do what I want, which is to be an engineer.”

- Alice Shaikhutdinova, School of Engineering, Class of 2028

📸Anushka Dhariwal

12/05/2024

“I actually found out about (the Rutgers Roundnet Club) my freshman year. So, that was four years ago, pretty much … back in 2021 … We saw just a group of people playing spike ball in our dorm area, and we’re like, ‘Oh, can we play?’ … And it didn’t actually become an actual club until sophomore year, the next year, because we didn’t file the paperwork.

“(Now) I’m the vice president of (the Rutgers Roundnet Club). So, I basically help run tournaments. I basically help oversee reservations with field areas and practice times — just generally managing things with the president.

“(I’ve been playing for) four years now, and for the first year, it was just with Rutgers. And in that year, I thought I was the best player ever. I was probably just a very bad player back then, but I had no one else to compare it to. And then I recently joined a group my second year playing. So, this is my sophomore year, and I found out how bad I was. I didn’t know how people actually played in competitive, and I got destroyed for years. And I’m still not one of the best people there. So, I just non-stop grind to the top, and I’m having so much fun. And I just found out about it through a GroupMe on Instagram. So, it’s fun to have that community.”

- Rubin Chang, School of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2025

📸: Lucas Tang

11/14/2024

“The very first thing I can remember wanting to be was a dentist because I went to the dentist a lot … And then I wanted to be an architect, and I wanted to be a marine biologist, and I wanted to be a scientist, and I wanted to be an English teacher, and I wanted to be a lawyer, and then, finally, I settled on a doctor.

“It’s been a weird journey to get to medicine. It was a weird place that I just kind of settled on. I thought that it combined everything that I wanted to do in one spot.

“(My proudest moment was) coming out of the MCAT because it was such a daunting test, and it just took over my life for so long. So, coming out after 7 and a half hours and being like, ‘I’m done, and I did that. I took it, and whatever happens, happens, but I did it.’ So, that was a pretty good moment.”

- Naomi, School of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2025

📸: Chloe Berwick

10/31/2024

“A passion of mine would be fashion. I feel it’s just a way you can creatively express yourself, like a different outfit for every day, depending on how you’re feeling and stuff like that.

“I was thinking about starting (a fashion brand) last year, but things happen, so I’ve put a hold on that.

(My advice to students is) don’t procrastinate, and make sure you really put a balance on social life and school. Don’t focus too much on one thing … Cool balances (are important).”

Xavier, Rutgers Business School, Class of 2027

📸: Ashley Caldwell

10/24/2024

“I’ve struggled with my own self-image, I guess, where it’s holding yourself to a standard and then whenever you don’t meet that standard, just completely crumbling apart. I feel like a lot of people understand and relate to this at various levels.

Time is of the essence. And I feel as though my time management is one of my strongest qualities, but it was only born out of the fact that I had to spend so much time worrying about my time, right? So, I might be graduating early, but that’s because I’m trying to make sure I get the most out of this resource but also don’t keep the resource from other people. Like, I want to come to Rutgers so I can take what might be gatekept and bring it out into the rest of the world.

I never want to idle. I always want to be productive, and sometimes that can be reductive to my personal enjoyment. You have to give time also to yourself.”

- Michaela, School of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2024

📸: Zoe Torralba

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Piscataway, NJ
08854

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