After dropping out of high school, this South Jersey student, with two others, wins Rowan College’s President’s Award

Heading into her senior year in high school, Adama Jones was an honors student, took AP classes, and ranked among the top in her class. But she never entered 12th grade.

The South Jersey teen dropped out of the Burlington County Institute of Technology in the summer of 2021. She wasn’t ready to return to classes after the pandemic disrupted education for students everywhere. She was concerned about COVID-19 restrictions.

“I was just out of it,” recalled Jones, 19, of Willingboro.

Leaving school was not an easy decision for Jones, who had been a straight-A student since fourth grade. It would mean missing the prom and graduating with her friends. She loved school but believed her mental health would be better served by the isolation of remote instruction, with which she had become accustomed during the pandemic.

Her mother, a nurse anesthetist, reluctantly agreed to let Jones withdraw from school. She eventually gave her two other choices: enroll in a homeschooling group or get a high school equivalency degree. A month later, Jones passed the GED exam and enrolled at Rowan College at Burlington County in Mount Laurel.

An aspiring fashion designer, Jones excelled in college as a full-time student while working part time. It was a fresh start and a good fit for Jones, who became active in the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the chess and crochet clubs and has been a model in the college’s fashion shows.

Jones graduated in December with a 4.0 grade-point average, obtaining an associate’s degree. She and two other graduates — Rahaf Alsharif, who came to America more than a decade ago as a Syrian war refugee, and Pamela Zahn, who turned her life around following addiction and incarceration — received President’s Awards from Rowan and were selected to speak at the college’s first-ever winter commencement.

With her mother, Hansatu, and her fifth-grade teacher in the audience, Jones congratulated her fellow graduates as high achievers. She said courage, confidence and willpower were among the keys to her success.

“Essentially, it means knowing that you already are your biggest dream, just at a certain stage. It means knowing that your success is inevitable because you will plan accordingly, stay focused, and take paced steps every day,” she said.

Jones said she hoped her journey would inspire other students to pursue non-traditional paths. She credits her mother, too, because she “always wants the best for me.” She hopes to obtain a bachelor’s in business administration by 2025 through Rowan’s 3+1 program, which allows students to complete their bachelor’s while attending classes at the community college.

“It’s OK if you want to go against the grain. I definitely would say go for it!” she said.

As a child growing up in Syria, Rahaf Alsharif wanted to become a nurse to help people. She got a chance to pursue her dreams when she came to the United States a decade ago with her husband and five children as war refugees.

It was not easy leaving behind family and friends, but they believed they had little choice. Violence was rampant and they feared they would be harmed or killed in the chaos. The family arrived in Chicago in 2012 and eventually settled in South Jersey.

“It was a dark time, but we escaped the war there,” she said. “Even after escaping, I would cry and cry.”

Alsharif obtained an associate’s degree in nursing and is completing clinical training at Rowan. In a nod to her heritage, Alsharif recorded her award acceptance in Arabic. She enrolled in the college’s English as a Second Language program before starting her coursework.

“I care about people,” she said. “I get so excited to see patients, and it shows that this is where I am supposed to be.”

Having struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, Pamela Zahn spent three years in prison. She enrolled in Rowan a year after her release, ready to pursue her dream of helping others, especially those battling addiction. She was determined to put the past behind her and stay sober.

“Everything happens for a reason. Just take things one step at a time,” Zahn said.

An honors student and Academic Award recipient, Zahn was graduating with a certificate in addictions counseling. In May, she expects to earn a liberal arts degree in human services.

Zahn has made it her mission to help those less fortunate — both animals and humans. She volunteers at the Burlington County Animal Shelter and collects shoes and clothing for Soles4Souls. She also started a Power to the Period initiative in Burlington County to provide feminine hygiene products to women. She is president of the Human Services Club at Rowan.

In her commencement speech, she spoke openly about her addiction that landed her in prison in 2017, and how “every day of those long, horrible, sad years of my life I wanted to die.” While behind bars, she vowed to change.

“If I had not gone to prison, I truly believe I would not be standing here in front of all of you today, let alone even be alive,” she said. ”That is why I say prison changed my life and I will never regret being in prison or anything about my past, for that matter. In the face of challenges, remember … that resilience is our greatest ally.”