by Jeanice Brad, photographed by Erica Jackson
Victor was introduced to GS as a Serrano Scholar. “Before this scholarship, I didn’t even know where Columbia University was.” The Latino Studies major won the scholarship as a student at Hostos Community College in the Bronx. The Serrano Scholars program gives students with high GPAs the opportunity to attend GS to complete their BAs pursue a masters at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.
What first impressed Victor about GS was its diversity. However, he was nervous about relating to other GS students. “I was much younger than traditional GS students….GS is full of talented, intelligent, and unique individuals that no other school in Columbia can brag about. GS holds everything that the entire Columbia community needs.”
Victor graduated from GS last fall and enrolled at SIPA during the spring 2005 semester to pursue an MA in International Affairs with a concentration in International Security Policy in Latin America. However, he never forgets where he got his start, “Luckily for me, I had great friends and a great support system at GS.”
Victor feels his Columbia education helped him overcome many challenges and will allow him to help his family and community. “Even while I was in high school, I was always responsible for my family. They are my main concern and motivation. Of course my education has always been important to me, but I do not believe we should just work for ourselves, but rather for those who love us and believe in us. I was born and raised in one of the worst areas in the Bronx, and today I sit in one of the greatest learning institutions in the world! That alone overshadows any challenge I have ever faced.”
One of Victor’s most memorable moments as a Columbia student occured in the summer of 2004 when he studied abroad with the SEE-U program. He was surprised to learn that there were many other GS students participating. “I was honored to makes some life-long GS friends who have become a second family to me.”
Victor's advice to incoming GS students is, “Do it all — go to socials, go to lectures, go to seminars, go to events. GS is only what you choose to make of it. Try not to blink because it goes by so fast and there is nothing that you would want to miss.”
|
