Overall, the past few months of school during this global pandemic have been interesting and complicated to say the least. With in-person classes turning into virtual classes, it has made my time at New Institute of Technology difficult. It has made me much more grateful and lucky for the time we get on campus and in-person and the resources that we had full access to pre-COVID. Luckily, my school turned into hybrid classes meaning we have classes online for what can be taught online, but then we have our in-person hands on labs twice a week which has been amazing. The past two quarters here at New England Tech have been extremely fun and interesting. With the time we have in person we spend that doing electrical industrial motor control labs which has been so much fun getting to wire up our motors and see them in action. My next and last quarter here at this school will focus on Green and Renewable Energies which is what I will receive an associate degree in. During my Christmas break, I spent my time back on Martha’s Vineyard working as an electrical apprentice with Robert Young Jr. Electrical Contractor who I have been working with for over a year now. This is where I will resume my apprenticeship full-time once I graduate from New England Institute of Technology in June 2021. All and all these past few months have been a blessing and a curse. It has been an unfortunate and difficult time but that has only made me stronger and hungrier for what the future has to offer. I am extremely grateful for all of the opportunities that MVYouth has blessed me with and am excited to see where they take me.
Samuel Bresnick - Boston College
This past semester has presented many new challenges, with both the pandemic as well as academics. Fortunately at Boston College, they allowed many classes to be taught in-person in a hybrid format, where half the class is in-person and half is on Zoom. Luckily for me my classes were in a hybrid format. These classes introduced me to a new perspective as well as different ways of thinking. For example, I took Sacred Pages: The Bible, which is a class required to fulfill BC’s theology core. This class discussed the texts from the Bible and applied them to topics that are relevant in our society today. Analyzing how different groups of people would interpret these texts, and develop an understanding of how this influences different societies around the world. My favorite class was Econometrics Method, providing an intense, in-depth look at testing the predictions of economic theory, covering a wide range of topics including, multiple regressions, multicollinearity and heteroskedasticity. In addition we discussed how to analyze these regressions and how to adjust what we are testing in order to give us the most accurate and reliable results. This upcoming spring semester I am enrolling in both Environmental Economics and Public Finance to continue my track as an Econ major with a minor in Finance. I am grateful that I decided to go back to BC because even though it was challenging I was presented with many fulfilling and memorable experiences. This past year I continued to be a part of BC Bigs as well working in the Scouting & Personnel Department of the BC Football Team. Through BC Bigs I was able to continue to build my relationship with Adrian from last year, which was very important to me. Although we haven’t been able to meet in person, BC Bigs has held all of the meetings over Zoom, so I am still able to spend time with him for a couple hours over the weekend. As for working in the BC Football Department, it has given me an incredible opportunity and valuable experience for a potential profession on the front office side of football. Most of my time when I am not in class or doing school work, I am watching film of high school and college players across the country. I’ve been assigned a position group as well as a region in the country to look for potential recruits for BC. This has offered me the opportunity to work with coaches and personnel within BC Football Dept. to discuss evaluations on prospective players. This work is very time consuming, but I love it and it is something that I really enjoy doing. I am incredibly grateful for the work that MVYouth does to make these experiences possible for me and other Island students like me. Thank you.
Chris Aring - Olin College
Olin College was one of the first colleges to close down at the start of the pandemic. In early March we held our “fauxmencement” where my classmates and I wore a mixture of real robes, robes crafted from trash bags, and origami hats to celebrate -- in as normal a fashion as we could -- our departure from Olin. It was not the graduation experience I was expecting but was somehow more ‘Olin’. I successfully completed my degree receiving a bachelor of science in electrical and computer engineering and headed home to the Vineyard for the summer along with two college friends. I am fortunate and privileged to call the Vineyard home as I was able to socially distance with friends, walk trails, and walk beaches safely. While continuing to live on the Vineyard working as a property manager, I have expanded my interest in music production and painting. My long time middle-school friend and I are working to create an album we hope to release soon. I wanted to thank my community, friends, family, and the generosity of MVYouth for supporting me through my undergraduate studies at Olin College. I gained many experiences that will continue to help me move forward in my life and career.
Nicolas Andre - College of Holy Cross
The 2020 fall semester was an unusual one to say the least. In August, when Holy Cross announced the semester would be remote, I decided that it would be best for me to take a leave of absence. I have thoroughly enjoyed the first half of my college career, not only due to the classes and athletics, but also as a result of all the connections I have been given the opportunity to make. From talking to professors during office hours and studying with my peers, to getting out on the soccer field with people from all over the world, my college experience thus far has been much more than just my classes. While staying at home for such a long time was unexpected, I feel incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to live on the island, especially during these trying times. I have spent invaluable time with the people I love and have been able to work and give back to the community that I grew up in while we all endure this pandemic together. I began the semester working at TestMV, which gave me incredible insight into public health and is an experience I will never forget. The test site is a fundamental force in keeping our community safe and it was a privilege to help contribute to that goal. After Thanksgiving, I was given the opportunity to return as a scribe in the Emergency Department at MVH, which I will continue throughout the spring and gain more valuable experience in the field I am pursuing. I would also like to thank MVYouth for being so supportive of my decision to take a leave of absence. They encouraged me to make the decision that was best for myself and my family, and for that I am extremely grateful.
JP Alves - University of San Diego
My sophomore year at the University of San Diego has been like nothing I have ever experienced before. Maneuvering life far away from home is an arduous task in itself, and adding a pandemic into that equation makes it an entirely different experience. Attending classes through online video chatting was something I have never thought I would have been doing, and I am extremely grateful for the school’s smooth transition from in-person classes to Zoom. I have been fortunate enough to have been able to remain living in San Diego while I attended every class on Zoom, although the campus remains mostly closed. The adjustment to virtual classes became much easier over time, and I have my professors to thank for that. My growing passions for foreign languages and international affairs have been able to flourish even amidst all the chaos that the coronavirus brings. I am thankful for the patience and diligence shown by my professors in each course I enrolled in, I have learned so much from them. Although the clubs and organizations I am a part of have been moved online, the professors were creative and all the while engaging. All my academic interests are still able to be explored within this online setting. I have been applying to several internships here in California where I have found many opportunities to expand my knowledge of international affairs throughout this upcoming semester and also the summer. I plan on continuing my studies in foreign languages as well, there are various language immersion programs available which would significantly allow me to improve my skills. Above all the positive aspects of my first semester sophomore year, I have MVYouth to thank as my greatest benefactor. None of this would have been possible without the immense generosity from this astounding organization and all its donors, and for that I am forever grateful.
Meghan Sonia - Anna Maria College
During my first semester at Anna Maria College, as a Nursing Major, I had many new and wonderful experiences. These experiences first began in the classroom. I jumped right into my first semester with six rigorous honors classes. These included English, Psychology and Sciences. All of the professors were widely experienced in their field. My Anatomy and Physiology were both challenging but intriguing, lecture and lab classes pushed me to think and understand different parts of the body. I had to begin to learn about tissues, bones, muscles and how all these systems worked together. This school and its professors have begun to set me up to have the best success possible with hands-on learning and small classes. Outside of the classroom, I am very involved with sports and organizations affiliated with the athletics at Anna Maria as a dual-sport athlete. During the fall, I played on the field hockey team, which helped my transition into the school and met a few of my closest friends. The team also got me involved with different programs around the school and the community. Through the team, we have done volunteer work within Worcester/Paxton as well as just around the school, by being a part of the “Day of Giving” event!I also got involved with the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, which helps put on fundraisers and activities around the school to get students involved and grow our community. Currently in season, I am playing for the Girls Ice Hockey team as a forward. I am so thankful to MV Youth Workforce and its donors to have given me the chance to have these different learning and life experiences and the best school for me. Thank you for the support that will only help strengthen my education at Anna Maria College.
Max Smith - Cape Cod Community College
My first semester here at Cape Cod Community College has definitely been busy. Right from the start I was reminded of what kind of commitment it would take to get myself adjusted to the nearly 40 hour weeks of classes. One of my favorite parts of the first semester would easily be some of the amazing classmates I have. Everyone helped each other get adjusted and there was very little time that I felt the stress of what seemed like too much work and too big of a commitment. The bond I have made so soon with some of my fellow peers, colleagues you could say, are ones that will last long after we have all left the program. Being surrounded by so many individuals that share the same passions and love for aviation as me reminds me every day of why I am here and why I need to give my 100% everyday. As far as classes go, I could not be more pleased and excited with each passing day. Whether it is Aircraft Drawings or Basic Electricity, there has yet to be a class that hasn’t grabbed my attention in one way or another. Not only do I get to further my education each day I walk through those doors, but the experience I get from having actual, in the field aircraft mechanics as my teachers is so much more. They provide so much more information from their own experiences then just the regular textbook offers and gives meaning to everything they teach as compared to some words on a page. With each day closer to getting out into the field I am reminded of what I am doing this all for, my love for aviation. Thanks to the wonderful folks of MVYouth I get to surround myself constantly with so many people who share the same love for aircraft as I do. We all push each other to grow and move forward each and every day, and that has to be one of my favorite parts of my first semester.
Emma Searle - Boston College
This first semester at Boston College has been immeasurably transformative and has surpassed any expectations I held before this school year began. Beginning to fulfill requirements for both my major in communications as well as our Core, I took classes covering topics such as the history of rhetoric, philosophy and theology, Spanish, and finite probability. I have especially loved my Perspectives on Western Culture course which I will continue into my second semester. In this class I’ve been guided through an examination of religious and philosophical texts and have been prompted to ponder big-picture questions such as “What does it mean to live a meaningful life?” In considering such questions I have consequently begun a regular practice of reflection, a practice that is highly encouraged and fostered at BC. Outside of my academics, I was accepted into the Boston College Dance Ensemble at the beginning of the semester and am overjoyed to further my love of dance at BC. Through this organization, I have developed such wonderful relationships with fellow dancers from each grade and so appreciate the support and shared passion for dance provided by this group. BC’s proximity to the city of Boston has also quickly become one of my favorite parts about school as I am able to take the T into the city with friends for a meal or an event or, as I just recently discovered during finals, to the Boston Public Library for a productive break from campus. Just in this first semester I already feel I have found a home and Boston College and I am incredibly grateful to MVYouth for their generosity and outpouring support throughout this journey.
Jo Orr - Wagner College
My first semester at Wagner College has been a fantastic whirlwind of new experiences. I finally got to focus on the core classes of musical theatre that I waited so long to take, while also expanding my boundaries by taking World Literature classes, French Culture studies, and more. I was honored to be accepted into three audition-only choirs, with which I've performed on-campus, in NYC, at church gigs, and even with a full orchestra in Summit, New Jersey. I am pleased to announce that I will be touring Italy this spring with the Wagner College Choir, performing in Venice, Florence, and ending in Rome by singing at the Vatican! I have also pushed forward with dance, by taking ballet, jazz, and doing frequent auditions in NYC for Broadway, cabarets, and masterclasses. These experiences have allowed me to create connections with people I never thought would even look my way. Out of school I am taking voice lessons with Marisa Michealson, vocal coach of Dave Malloy's shows, most commonly known for his Tony Award-winning show, Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Balancing my schoolwork while also taking time to have new social experiences has been a challenge, but one of the extracurricular groups I'm most passionate about is OutWagner, the LGBTQ+ group on campus. Together, we've helped arrange a bus to the Washington D.C. Transgender March, raised money for the Trevor Project, and fought for more gender-neutral housing on campus (which we got!!). I managed to find friends who are just like me, but I also have friends who are nothing like me. It is nice to be surrounded by people with completely different perspectives, goals, and opinions, while everyone has an open mind and accepts each other with open arms. All my experiences this year would not have been possible without MVYouth. I am forever grateful for you believing in me.
Ryan O'Malley - Yestermorrow School of Design
My fall and winter have been amazing so far! I ended summer on MV and spent two and a half gorgeous months at Yestermorrow Design/Build school up in Waitsfeild, Vermont. The eleven week woodworking course included aspects of design and drafting, wood selection and preparation, joinery, traditional hand skills, sharpening, power tool techniques, and finishing. Essentially a carpentry crash course with seven other novice woodworkers. The school was a super tight community between faculty and students. We shared the campus with one other course and over home cooked meals in such a small place, it became a sort of like a family. In our first week, we started out felling a couple large ash and hemlock trees from the campus woods. A small time local sawyer felled the trees for us and explained the milling process with his portable sawmill. The wood we processed was stored to be used by the next year's class. After the first week of hand tool work, we were familiarized with the shop and free to use it at our pleasure for the rest of the course. I grew in confidence working with most tools you'll find in any shop and practiced furniture making. Since completing the course, I've been doing more finish carpentry for South Mountain. While I'm definitely still learning through my mistakes I can claim some wall caps and two closets in Quansoo.
Louise McDonald - Trinity College
During this past semester at Trinity College, I spent my time observing and exploring fascinating academic courses and new social dynamics. At first, I was overwhelmed with all the possible opportunities that Trinity had to offer. However, within a few short days, I began to dip my toes in recreational activities such as cycling and Zumba, volunteering as a Trinity student writer for Society 6 magazine, and taking the college bus to the renown Wadsworth Atheneum of Art in Hartford. Despite being comfortable in my little bubble on Martha's Vineyard, I have a new perspective on life in a big city. Throughout my senior year, I had never pictured myself going to a small 2,282 person liberal arts student school. However, once I touched foot as a freshmen student on campus, I couldn't be happier about my college decision. Being in a small environment where people root for each other, want each other to succeed, and care about each other is truly special. The liberal arts program has allowed me to dip my toes in all subjects. Even though I came into college interested in a specific major, I quickly developed interests in other subjects. This semester I had the opportunity to learn enticing information in Art History on The Pietà St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and the Staford Prison Experiment in my Games of Strategy Seminar. The various amount of small size classes in all subjects at Trinity encourages me to collaborate with my classmates while discovering what I want to concentrate on for the next four years. Within a few days at Trinity, I was able to step out of my comfort zone and build strong connections with my classmates, professors, and college community. With the help from MVYouth, I am able to find academically-minded people who will push me to work hard, and also motivate me to be the best version of myself. Without this experience, I would not have been able to build this amazing network that I can reach out to in the future. Now nothing is stopping me from being successful.
Andres Garcia - Cornell College
My first semester at Cornell was a tough one, but it was well worth it. At first, I struggled the most with time management. It was hard to find a balance between school and sports. My classes were tough and the professors would cover the material very quickly. On weekdays, I’d have football meetings in the mornings and practices in the afternoons. On top of that, we had games on Saturday and lifts/conditioning on Sundays. Overall, I was spending well over 20 hours a week with football and studying the rest of the time. While football was a huge commitment, they also gave me resources to help us stay on top of our classes. We had mandatory study halls that helped me get my work done and we were offered free tutoring. Once I started taking advantage of the resources available to me I started doing better in my classes. Through sports I was also able to make a lot of great friends and connections that also helped me get through this first semester. I would often be in one of the townhouses studying either Chemistry and Calculus with friends or just laying back and enjoying the brief moments of free time that we had. If someone had told me, a year and a half ago, that I would be a running back at Cornell I wouldn’t have believed them. Being able to play football at the collegiate level while also studying at an Ivy League school has been the best experience of my life, it’s hard to describe just how amazing these last few months have been. I am truly thankful for MVYouth and all of the support that I’ve received, I wouldn’t be in the same position I am in if it hadn’t been for you.
Josue Dos Santos - Cape Cod Community College
These last six months of my life have been great, although wild. I am very grateful for the experiences I have had in just six months. As an MVYouth Workforce recipient, I have had the great opportunity of experiencing both the workforce and college. On Monday, June 10, the day after graduation, I started my electrical apprenticeship with local company Brissette Electric, Inc. So far, I have already had the opportunity to do a service, rough, finish, solar work, and the list goes on. In this short time, I have learned many aspects of the trade, such as how NOT to get shocked, some electrical codes, and just the day to day responsibilities of being an electrician. In September, I enrolled and started Electrical code classes with Cape Cod Electrical School. We have classes four days a week, where we study and learn the NFPA National Electric Code. This first semester has been very beneficial to my apprenticeship. Being able to apply what I learn to my job is very reassuring and has helped me to adjust to my new work environment. This semester I also started at Cape Cod Community College, where I am going to get an associate degree in Business. I started in September with a Human Communication course on campus and an on-island English course. The wildest part of these last six months has been managing my schedule. From picking courses that fit, to traveling to school, it has been a wild ride, yet I can proudly say my schedule is doing just fine. I am very grateful for this incredible opportunity that MVYouth has gifted me with. Thank you so much.
Sam Cranston - University of Vermont
My first semester at the University of Vermont has been the most challenging yet rewarding experience of my life so far. I entered school not knowing a single person out of the 11,000 students at UVM. As a kid who’s spent his entire life living on a small and sheltered island, where everyone knows everyone, this transition was a bit of a shock. Now, only a couple months later, I can look back on those first few weeks of school and laugh. I have found a really close group of friends, made the club baseball team, and settled into the college routine. I could not be happier with my new life at school, and I am loving every second of college. Academically, I am really proud of what I accomplished in my first semester at UVM. Classes such as Calculus and Biology covered many difficult topics, but with a lot of hard work and studying, I was able to achieve high grades in each. In a special research course for life science majors, I took an in depth look at how honey bees communicate with one another. I found this work fascinating, and ended up writing an eight page research paper on the topic, which received high praise from my professor. All these courses required a lot of work, but came relatively easy to me. On the other hand, Chemistry did not come easy whatsoever. I have never taken a more difficult and work intensive course. Countless hours were spent in tutoring sessions, studying in the library, and working with my peers. In the end, all this hard work did not lead to the grade I was hoping for, and I will have to work even harder next semester.
JP Alves - University of San Diego
Over the past four months, I have come to understand that moving across the country and attending the University of San Diego was not only my best decision but one that will continue to positively shape my life. In what feels like a very short amount of time, I have been afforded great privileges; I have made lasting memories, attended classes that peak my curiosity, and received exposure to dedicated and brilliant professors. In the past semester, I took six classes. Although I was apprehensive about this heavy course load as a first-semester freshman, I was assured by my family, friends, counselors, and professors that I would receive the support I needed as long I put in the hard work. That is something I have come to deeply appreciate. The school will always meet you “halfway”, if not all the way. I took a variety of different classes including calculus, microeconomics, and psychology. One of my favorite experiences was my three-hour psych lecture. Although three hours of any class might seem dreadful for some, the professor was able to present the information in intriguing and rich ways that made the content mean something to me. The small class sizes ensured that each student was able to ask questions and feel heard in seminars. USD also has a fantastic language department and I in no way hesitated to take advantage of this offering. The Italian course I took solidified all the knowledge of the language that I knew while teaching me so much more. Overall, my experience here has been unmatched. I am left with only admiration and gratitude for this opportunity I have been provided with. I truly hope to continue to make many more memories and challenge my thinking in new and thrilling ways.
Liam Weiland - Berklee College of Music
This past semester at Berklee College of Music has been the quickest and most productive semester yet. My studies have become much more intensive. I have finished all of my Core Music and Liberal Arts courses, save for one Arts History course. Now all of my classes directly relate to my declared major of Electronic Production and Design. I take courses focused in Digital Mixing, Musical/ Audio Synthesis, and Studio Technologies including the use and understanding of MIDI SPEC. I am currently planning out trips to both New York and Los Angeles to scope out potential areas to move post-graduation. There are a limited number of cities in the country with a presence in the music industry, and of those I am finding myself interested in LA. I am incredibly excited for a serious change of climate and scenery since I have grown up and spent my entire life in New England. I love my home and will always be incredibly grateful for the place I grew up, but I am excited to spend some time on the other side of the country. All of my courses in the coming semester look great, but the most highly anticipated for me is called Circuit Bending and Physical Computing. This class involves learning how to build your own custom analog synthesizer. We will do this using both traditional technology and unorthodox objects such as video game controllers. By the end of the course every student will have developed their own expressive MIDI and audio control system.
Galya Walt - Tufts University
This past semester has been a really great transition back to life at Tufts following a semester studying in Cape Town last spring. I started working on my senior honors thesis studying the perceptions and experiences of clinicians who petitioned for patients with substance use disorders to be committed to involuntary treatment as permitted by Massachusetts law. It has been a really valuable learning experience to go through the process of designing a study, getting approval and conducting interviews with participants. I will be continuing to work on this project in the spring and will present my findings a few weeks before graduation. I also spent my time interning in a research lab run by a Tufts professor, and I worked on a study interested in helping kidney-disease patients make informed decisions on whether or not to go on dialysis. I loved reading through the interview transcripts of both kidney-disease patients and nephrologists and seeing both of their perspectives on the trajectory of disease and when it is optimal to share challenging information such as prognosis. I was mostly working on data analysis for this project and I really enjoyed learning how qualitative research gets transformed from transcripts to specific findings. When I wasn’t studying I spent many weekends hiking in the White Mountains. I have been working on completing all 48 4,000 footers over the course of my time at Tufts and this semester I was able to get number 46! I am forever grateful to MVYouth for giving me a college experience that has allowed me to grow and challenged me in ways that gave me a clearer sense of who I am. It will be bittersweet to say goodbye to Tufts in May and I will cherish all of it for my last semester. Thank you MVYouth!
Kaela Vecchia-Zeitz - New York University
I study at NYU Silver School of Social Work which places students within the social work field to gain hands-on experience before graduating. I was placed in January 2019 at Sanctuary for Families, within the agency’s program Justice and Empowerment for Teens (JET) Initiative, which services young adult survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and/or sex trafficking. Before being placed at Sanctuary for Families, I was unaware about the prevalence and complexity of the commercial sex trade within the United States. Over the course of one year, I gained extensive knowledge about it through working directly with survivors, reading the related literature, and attending panel events. I am now a member of New Yorkers for the Equality Model (NY4EM) - a New York-based alliance of cross-sector organizations, sex trade survivors, and community members who advocate for the Equality Model. The Equality Model calls for the decriminalization of people bought/sold in the sex trade, while continuing to hold sex buyers and third-party profiteers accountable for the lifelong harm their actions cause. Within NY4EM I lead the Student Statewide Coalition which educates college campuses about the harms of the commercial sex trade, the Equality Model, and how to get involved in the movement. I never could have imagined how transformative my field placement would be. I am eager to continue doing clinical and policy work with survivors of the commercial sex trade, and I am currently applying to graduate school to get my Masters in Social Work. Thank you MVYouth, without your support I would not have attended NYU and would not have been exposed to this trying, fulfilling work.
Meghan Sawyer - Colgate University
I had an incredible 3rd semester at Colgate this year! Early in the semester I joined the sorority Delta Delta Delta (Tridelta), and it has been an amazing organization to be a part of. One of the reasons I joined Tridelta was because of their partnership with St. Jude Children’s Hospital. St. Jude provides treatment for children battling cancer at no cost to the family. They are a really great charity and one I was passionate about helping. We have done some fundraising campaigns this year to benefit St. Jude and we have raised over $45,000 dollars so far. I am also on the women’s club ultimate frisbee team, so I’ve spent a lot of time this fall at practice. We compete in tournaments a lot of weekends which has been super fun. Next semester I will be officially declaring my major in mathematical economics, and I will either minor or double major in biology as well. This semester I took microeconomics and linear algebra which were requirements for my major, and I also took a university required class called Legacies of the Ancient World. This wouldn’t be a class I would have normally signed up for, but it was actually interesting as we read and analyzed ancient texts from Plato, Homer, the Bible, the Quran, and many more. Next semester I will be taking Macroeconomics, a Probability course, a course about the middle east, and another biology class. I also recently found out that in the spring semester of 2021 I will be studying abroad in London as part of the Colgate economics study group. I had the best semester yet at Colgate and I would like to thank everyone at MVYouth for making it possible. I can’t express how much your support means to my family and I, and we are so grateful for everything.
Nayson Peres - UMASS
This past year has been good. I have had some challenging classes but I have also enjoyed many of them. Some of the most interesting courses have been on evolutionary biology, organic chemistry and medical ethics. Although varying greatly in subject matter, these classes all intrigued me by expanding my prior knowledge in a comprehensive way. The particular professors were also quite engaging. I especially liked building and dissecting philosophical arguments related to medical ethics. This class and a public health course I took this past fall both discussed past and contemporary health issues; both provided a contrast to the basics of biology and chemistry that I have studied in the past semesters. I have been able to apply what I have learned to develop opinions with greater understanding of the issues. Back at the Vineyard, I worked during the summer and did some volunteering for my community. This year I got the chance to travel to Florida and Colorado. Both were welcome respites from the cold weather in Massachusetts. In conclusion, I would like to thank MVYouth and it’s donors. MVYouth’s support is greatly appreciated.