Not your typical college student

Daniel Webster College’s Priti Bhatnagar, majoring in aviation and aeronautical engineering, has high aspirations

Not every young woman aspires to become a commercial airline pilot.  And not every woman thinks of aeronautical engineering as a career choice.  But Priti Bhatnagar is not every woman.  Priti, a junior at Daniel Webster College (DWC), is a double major in both aviation flight operations (professional pilot) and aeronautical engineering.

When Priti was investigating where to continue her education after high school, it was Daniel Webster College’s flight and engineering programs that attracted her from her hometown of Exton, Pa., to Nashua, N.H.

“I was looking for a flight school, and of all the colleges I investigated, I picked Daniel Webster because the quality of its flight program stood out and it had a strong engineering department, as well.”

 

Size also mattered to Priti.  “Daniel Webster is a small school, which means you know all your teachers and they know you,” she explained.  “It's very easy to find someone if you need help with something.  I know that all my instructors will always take the time to help if I need it.  Most of the professors come with previous experience and the programs are very ‘hands on.’”

When asked what peaked her interested in aviation flight operations and aeronautical engineering, Priti replied, “I always liked math and science best, and probably would have ended up in one of those fields.  But when I participated in DWC’s Ace (Aviation Career Exploration) Camp, I became hooked on flight, and that, along with the College’s strong engineering program, was a big factor in my coming here.”  Daniel Webster College holds ACE Camp every summer, where high school students study careers in the field of aviation, learn about airplanes and flight, and actually fly a trainer aircraft with a certified flight instructor several times during their week-long stay.  

In regard to her other major, Priti says that a major benefit of DWC’s engineering program is that students get to work on the shop machines their very first semester, which is atypical of engineering programs.  “I am confident in the program because I know that the people behind it are totally committed,” she added.

 

Chad Hebert, of Nashua, N.H., a 2005 aeronautical engineering graduate, agrees. “The best attributes of the program are the professors, small class size, a team environment, and the equipment and facilities, including a machine shop. We use it right away for our engineering design project in the first semester and every semester after that."

 

Most students elsewhere, he said, do not get that "hands-on" experience until their junior or senior year. "Student have the major advantage of mixing the theoretical and hands-on throughout their career here," he said.

 

Daniel Webster has been graduating men and women with associate's degrees in engineering for more than 30 years.  This year the College marked a milestone by expanding its engineering program to four-year baccalaureate degrees in both aeronautical and mechanical engineering. 

 

"This is one of the most significant undergraduate curriculum decisions in the college's history," said President Robert E. Myers. "These two degrees fit into the vision for our students having an educational experience that is intense, personal, and exciting and firmly grounds them in theory and design, making them both competent and confident to take on any challenges they may face as a practicing engineer."

 

Bringing the classroom out into the world through experiential learning is a strong tenet of the academic philosophy of Daniel Webster College.  In addition to a wide variety of internship opportunities, DWC is known for encouraging and providing its students with a broad range of “service learning” projects, a teaching method that reinforces skills learned in the classroom through projects involving service to the community.

Recognizing that community starts at home, the college annually recognizes students who make things happen on campus. This year, Priti was one of 17 DWC students who received Distinguished Service Awards for her contributions to student life at Daniel Webster College.

 

Priti uses her knowledge and experience to tutor math and flight students and to work at the DWC Flight Center as a dispatcher and member of the flight line crew. 
In both positions, Priti is always willing to fill in when needed and makes sure the job gets done in spite of her demanding academic schedule and part-time job on the line crew at Wiggins Airways, Manchester, N.H.

“It’s good to know you can have a positive impact on other people,” Priti said. “I’ve learned a lot working around the DWC Flight C enter, and it has made me comfortable around different people.” 

 

“The DWC community annually acknowledges the time each of these students takes to make their individual and collective contributions to the college,” DWC’s Dean of Students Susan Elsass said.  “Priti’s ideas, accomplishments, her energy – all of those qualities make her experiences here more meaningful while enriching our campus and the experiences of her fellow students.”  While helping others, Priti has achieved academic excellence, having been named to the President’s List at the College – an honor reserved for students who make Dean’s List, with a 3.5 grade average or higher, for two or more semesters in a row.

 

Founded in 1965, Daniel Webster College is an independent four-year college with a primary focus on experiential learning. Conveniently located in Southern New Hampshire’s City of Nashua, the state’s second-largest city and twice named “America’s Best Place to Live,” Daniel Webster’s nationally ranked degree programs in aviation are well complemented by its innovative programs in business and management, computer science, information technology, engineering, sport management, and social science.

 

Through its division of Graduate, and Continuing Studies, the college offers an accelerated evening MBA program, a new online MBA for aviation professionals, a non-traditional evening air traffic control program, the EXCEL degree completion program, continuing studies, and a variety of certificate and distance learning programs. For more information, visit www.dwc.edu or call 603-577-6000.