From the president
Maria Perez has been at Kingsborough Community College for three semesters. During her time with us, she has demonstrated keen observational, analytical, and critical thinking skills. In her classes, she analyzed child behavior with an open heart and mind, drawing insightful connections to theory, as well as advocated for effective mental health services for adolescents across high schools in New York City. She is skilled at connecting her experiences and passions to new knowledge in an effort to improve the systems in place. I believe that this is an excellent opportunity for Maria to become a part of a community that will support her as a first-generation college student. I am certain that she will support others in her cohort and add to their experience with her passion, insight, intention, critical thinking, and kindness.
Personal Statement
I am intrigued by this fellowship mainly because I see this as the opportunity I've always needed in order to have a place for my ideas to thrive. Growing up in the New York City projects, I experienced the stigma circulating in low-income areas, especially in relation to the equity of our schooling system. The lack of knowledge on learning disabilities in Early-Childhood is something I’d like to advocate for in places of lower socio-economic status. I am often inspired by my uncle to become more involved in my community, Milton Perez, who is an advocate for VOCAL-NY after being placed in a homeless shelter for over five years. “Voices of Community Activists & Leaders” is a statewide grassroots organization that builds power among low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and mass incarceration. The exposure of sitting in dark times, for both my uncle and I, would simultaneously be what became a reason for light and change. I look forward to this moment of becoming a Newman Fellow because it puts me in a position where I am pushed beyond my limits through the individual passion of others.