When Asare Bampoe-Parry started his undergraduate experience at Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N), he was unsure of his future career path and didn’t see himself pursuing higher education beyond a bachelor’s degree. However, after walking across the stage at Rutgers University-Newark in May, he headed into both a strong first job and graduate school in the fall.
Asare landed a full-time role as Claims Associate in Casualty Segmentation at The Chubb Corporation and will be continuing his legacy at the Rutgers Business School by pursuing a Master of Science in Business of Fashion (MSBF), an industry in which he has a strong personal interest as an entrepreneur.
While he was concerned about his ability to juggle both, his community encouraged him to pursue his dreams: “I talked to some people, including my parents and my mentor, about whether it’s feasible for me to do that while I’m working full-time. They told me that it would be an investment in myself, and there will only be positive things that will come from it.”
After changing his major early on as an undergraduate and balancing the responsibilities of being a student athlete, Asare says those experiences in addition to the opportunities provided by RU-N and Braven helped him excel more academically.
Starting in 2015, RU-N has partnered with Braven to offer the Braven Leadership & Career Accelerator course and has served over 2,130 students. Asare’s decision to take the course came after his peers recommended it to him as a way to jumpstart his career. Still unsure of what he wanted to pursue, Asare decided to give it a chance and never looked back.
“I give credit to the opportunities offered at Rutgers and Braven for, honestly, being a catalyst in terms of how I turned my life around academically,” he shared, who landed on pursuing economics as a major while taking the course.
This support guided him to his current career path, including an internship that helped him land his strong first job through the networking and resume-building skills he honed while taking Braven. As a result, he was able to land an internship as a Claims Project Manager with The Chubb Corporation that led to a full-time job offer.
“It was definitely super exciting, being that everyone around me is constantly talking about the stresses of trying to find a job after school, and I was going through the exact same thing,” Asare said. “Once I received that email, it was like a huge breath of fresh air. I screenshotted it and sent it to my family. I remember thinking, finally, something to look forward to after school.”
Asare also commends RU-N for helping him balance both his professional desires alongside his business aspirations and passion for fashion.
“Rutgers Business School has a program called Rutgers Advanced Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship and Development (RAISED) to help entrepreneurs, and they have different organizations under RAISED where they fund entrepreneurs that either want to start their own business or work alongside an entrepreneur,” Asare said. “I received an internship with them for the past three semesters and they helped me continue to grow my business outside of school and teach me more about becoming an entrepreneur.”
Asare knows the support and mentorship he received from his family and support system were critical in allowing him to get here and walk across the stage into these exciting next steps.
“I’m really thankful for everyone I’ve met along the way, all the opportunities that I’ve received. and what’s to come,” Asare reflected. “It’s the perfect story in my eyes, honestly, coming from where I come from. It means a lot to everyone surrounding me, and I know everybody who attended graduation is proud.”