Camden man went from college dropout to White House intern
Rashan Prailow — onetime college dropout who worked his way back to Wall Street and the White House — visited Camden Monday at an event honoring 22 high school students who have worked to get their grades on track despite obstacles such as homelessness, teenage parenthood, and family traumas.
By most accounts, Camden's Rashan Prailow was headed for trouble.
After barely graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 2007, he dropped out during his freshman year at Camden County College. Soon afterward, he was arrested, and though all charges were dismissed, Prailow realized that his life didn't match the way he saw himself.
Prailow re-enrolled in college, graduated with an associate's degree in business administration, and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to jobs with Wall Street investment firms, he recently completed his second stint at the White House, where he worked as part of President Barack Obama's administration.
"In a way, I'm grateful for the experience of being arrested," said Prailow, now 28. "It was an important time in my life. If it hadn't happened, I don't know if I would have pushed myself so far. It showed me that I wanted different things for myself."
Prailow visited Camden Monday at an event honoring 22 high school students who have worked to get their grades on track despite obstacles such as homelessness, teenage parenthood, and family traumas.
"Failure is not permanent, and no one is exempt from failure," he told the students, teachers, and others assembled in an event room at Rutgers-Camden. "I learned that winners don't allow failure to dictate their futures or define them."
Raised in East Camden, Prailow grew up with a working mother who raised him and three siblings on her own, as his father spent time in and out of jail on drug-related charges.
In high school, playing football became an outlet and a source of discipline for Prailow. But when he realized he likely could not pursue the sport as a career, he lost his passion, he said. He started skipping class, and by the end of his senior year he had missed 80 days of school.
His lack of motivation doomed him in college, he said, and he soon began failing. He was arrested at age 20 on drug charges, he said, after a police officer in Camden falsely targeted him. He spent 15 days in jail before the charges were dismissed.
"When I went back to college, I was very determined," he said. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I knew school would keep me out of trouble."
Two college degrees later, Prailow has held externships with Capitol One and Goldman Sachs. In fall 2015 he landed an internship with the Office of Management and Budget. Last year, he was invited back as an associate in the White House's Office of Personnel, where he was part of an economics and justice team responsible for, among other tasks, vetting appointments for economic agencies.
He got to shake Obama's hand at parties on the White House lawn, and was able to bring his mother for a visit.
Since leaving the White House in December, he has been working as a consultant in Washington while he mulls his next step. He is working on a book about educational advocacy, and he said he might run for office someday.
On Monday, Prailow spoke to students who have improved their grades and attendance amid problems that included family turmoil, fights at school, and financial troubles. He told them that he understood some of what they had gone through, and he encouraged them to keep a mindset in which they saw themselves as successes.
"In your life you'll be surrounded by people who don't look like you, and don't think like you, and who might not understand the childhood you had to endure," he said. "Make a commitment today to accept who you are right now. Don't allow other people's limited beliefs to limit yours."