Ideal Institute of Technology holds graduation ceremony
By Tim Hawk
The Ideal Institute of Technology (IITNJ) held its iAchieved Success Celebration last Friday, where 168 students, family, friends and political leaders gathered on the grounds of its new Entrepreneurship and Technology Hub in Pleasantville.
IITNJ, which opened in 2016, offers career and technical skills training for students who are looking for a more challenging career in the technical industry.
Many of the graduates, dressed in blue caps and gowns, are considered at risk individuals and have overcome different struggles in their lives.
Founder and Director Ren Parikh began the graduation by asking the Ideal team to come up on stage, and explained to the hundreds in attendance that those standing before them are responsible for making Ideal the first of its kind career college that pays students to come to school.
“Seventy percent of our team members that you see were Ideal students and Ideal graduates.”
It’s their dream, he said, that nobody should worry about going to college because of debt or lack of student loan accessibility. “You come to college, we’re gonna pay you because you’re working.”
Parikh then went on to say that education is our fundamental right.
“If you are from a low income, marginalized community, and you have a lot of different types of labels that people give you, getting an education is your job, getting an education is your duty,” he explained. “That’s the only way to break the cycle, that’s the only way to change the way people look at us.”
As state Sen. Vincent Polistina addressed the Class of 2023, he first congratulated Parikh and his team for developing different pathways for people to have opportunities before offering the graduates some last bit of advice.
“All of us at our level will tell you, find something you’re going to love to do for your entire life. It makes things so much better if you enjoy what you’re doing.”
One graduate who is following his advice is Taryn Thompson of Atlantic City.
Prior to joining the Ideal family Thompson, 27, was incarcerated for possession of a firearm in 2017 at the age of 21. He explained that the gun wasn’t his but was in the car he was operating.
“Gotta watch your friends,” he said. “So that was the lesson learned there.”
While in prison he had aspirations of owning a landscaping business and after he was released in 2020 he came to Ideal through the New Jersey Locally Empowered, Accountable, and Determined (NJLEAD), a program with the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC).
NJLEAD supports the growth of reentry programs across the state, helping reentry organizations develop services for individuals exiting the state correctional system.
Thompson eventually settled on the Entrepreneurship Program focusing on owning and operating a food truck.
During the graduation ceremony Parikh announced that Thompson, along with his brother David, also a graduate of the program, are now part-owners of the We are AC Food Truck located at the Tanger Outlets and will have the opportunity to own it outright.
“At Ideal we believe in earning not giving,” said Parikh.
After the brothers received a large ceremonial key, Dr. Darcella Sessomes, chief of the Division of Programs and Reintegration Services spoke about the NJLEAD program.
“I know the Department of Corrections is probably the least likely guest at a graduation like this,” she began.
Sessomes then explained that the NJDOC does more than confine. “People may be in our custody, but they’re also in our care.”
Taryn said he is excited to be in business with his brother, who has been a cook for 15 years, and is thankful for the opportunity given to him.
“Having a record, it’s hard to get a job,” he said. “So they gave me the opportunity to show that I was rehabilitated, and I’m not going to let anybody down.”
Other graduating classes during the iAchieved Success Celebration included the School of Construction, the School of Film & Media Broadcasting, the School of First Step Career, the School of Business and the School of Hospitality.
