Shortly before the start of the fall 2017 semester, D’Jana Wyllis arrived in New Jersey from her home in the Commonwealth of Dominica, an island of lush mountainous rainforests with many rare plants, animal and bird species. That transition became very difficult a few weeks later when a hurricane devastated the island back home and Wyllis couldn’t communicate with her family. It would be several days before she received a text from her mother.
The conditions were not ideal to start an educational journey so far from home with Rowan College at Burlington County, but Wyllis was able to get through that difficult time and grow more comfortable in her academic work and the college community where she serves as a club officer of both the Math Club and Phi Theta Kappa honor society.
She also participates in RCBC’s Undergraduate Research program, working with a small team of students that is performing chemical analysis of over-the-counter cannabidiol (CBD) products to determine whether they provide health benefits, and if so, how potent.