I have spent 13 months rebuilding myself from the ground up. The grace and understanding of the MVYouth Scholarship made it possible for me to leave on sabbatical halfway through my sophomore year. Despite the unrelenting, daily, seizures, I passed two of my classes, both in music. I am proud to say I excelled in Advanced Voice. I’ve built a strong relationship with my music professor and mentor, Tom Bogdan. Being home has made me realize that both the town and college of Bennington is extremely similar to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. For instance, it’s rather secluded. Everywhere you go you think to yourself, “Huh, I know that person.” Since leaving Bennington, I’ve been striving to get my epilepsy under control. For the first three months of my sabbatical I was in severe rehabilitation. Over the next two months I began moderate recovery. By the end of September my seizures had finally become manageable. Since then I’ve worked at a gardening store and as a baker’s apprentice. Through these hands on jobs I‘ve found that I thrive just as well as when I’m on stage. I'm not sure where this will take me. It’s a jumping off point, but isn't that the idea? To find a spark and follow it. I’m going to follow, study and surround myself with what inspires me. I plan to return to college in the fall of 2021. As of now, I am in the process of exploring my options of schooling and a possible transfer. I’m currently looking at a few schools in MA that offer performing arts as well as culinary and business programs. I appreciate the second chance to fulfill what I know I’m capable of. To start again with my accomplishments supporting me, not with what I’ve been through weighing me down. This is an opportunity that seemed impossible. Thanks to MVYouth I have the privilege of starting anew.
Samantha Hargy - George Washington University
It has definitely been a year for the books! Last spring I was in the middle of an amazing internship with the Organization of American States when corona virus forced us to go virtual. During this online period I edited and contributed to the Hemispheric Plan of Action on Drugs 2020-2024. Other projects included the establishment of a Case Care Management program in Trinidad and Tobago to create alternatives to incarceration for drug related offenses. As my internship ended, so did my time in college. Instead of the National Mall in Washington, DC, I spent graduation day on my front lawn with family and neighbors. A bittersweet end to an amazing four years of travel and growth! Since May, I’ve been working toward graduate school by taking the GRE and submitting applications for the Fall 2021 semester. I will hopefully receive an offer by early March. Also in March I am headed to Arizona to solo hike the Arizona Trail, an 800 mile trek from Mexico to Utah. The trail goes right through the Grand Canyon, and I am anticipating a finish time of 55 days. What better way to quarantine than solo camping for two months! I’m looking forward to the year ahead, despite the unpredictability of it all, and hope my next update is filled with exciting new academic and professional ventures. As always, I am so thankful MVYouth has afforded me the security of no student loans during this especially difficult year. As I get older, I always enjoy reading about each new group of students you support and I reminisce on the moment I got word that MVYouth wanted to support me, now more than 4 years ago! Wow!
Lena Hanschka - Colby College
I began the year studying land conservation with a program focused in field research in Chilean Patagonia. We would pack up and head out to go backpacking for up to two weeks at a time, living in the backcountry out of tents and tarps. We spent our days transecting through forests and bogs, collecting population and biodiversity data. Each night, we returned back to camp for dinner followed by an evening class. The program took a holistic approach, integrating biology and ecology with natural history and environmental humanities. I learned about the people who had inhabited the land before it was bought and converted to conversation land. We discussed the various perspectives that should be considered and respected when preserving areas of land, thinking about how to effectively implement conservation policies in a sustainable and impactful way. In March, I returned to the Vineyard to quarantine during the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. I finished out my classes online and enjoyed the calm and beauty of the island during the off-season. In early May, I started working for the Trustees of Reservations on their Chappaquiddick properties as a shorebird technician. Each day, I would head out onto the beaches trying to locate pairs of nesting piping plovers and American oystercatchers. The nests were then monitored daily, observing how many eggs were laid and later, how many chicks had hatched. It was incredibly rewarding tracking the progress of the birds, almost all of whom were nesting along beaches with vehicle access. I learned more about land and species management in areas highly trafficked by humans and how to balance the needs of the wildlife with the wants of the community. In the fall, I returned to Colby College for hybrid classes. Luckily, the school was able to finance mass testing and quarantine any students who did test positive for COVID-19, allowing us to stay on campus for the semester. Overall, I was really happy to be able to return to campus and was able to take advantage of being in Maine with access to both the mountains and the coast.
Andres Garcia - Cornell College
This fall semester at Cornell has certainly been an interesting one to say the least. In late August, Cornell is usually filled with life. Everyone’s out meeting new people, going swimming in lakes, living stress-free until classes start. I should’ve been in training camp preparing for the incoming football season. Sadly, this wasn’t the case. There was no football season and although we could interact with new people, it was a very different experience. However, I was able to focus more on my academics than I normally would and decided to take six classes. I never thought I’d take that many classes in one semester, but it’s proven to be very helpful. I plan on getting a minor in business, so I took an asynchronous marketing class to get started on that. I also took a junior level class so that I can have a less stressful fifth semester and also to be able to focus more on my football season next year. Although we weren’t able to have a football season this year, the silver lining is that now I have an extra year of eligibility for football. I realized that I want to play as much collegiate football as I can, so my current goal is to be able to take a graduate year at Stanford and play football, once I graduate from Cornell. This will certainly be a challenge, but I’m confident that through consistently pushing myself and working hard, I can do it. This semester was very significant. It gave me time to think about what I wanted to do after Cornell, and now I have more time to focus on my goals, both physically and academically. I am grateful for all of the support that MVYouth has given me, especially throughout these challenging times.
Lee Faraca - Cal Poly
In July 2020, I successfully defended my thesis ”A Water Balance And Sediment Yield Analysis Model For The Lopez Lake Reservoir”, earning a Master’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cal Poly. In typical fashion, I returned to the Vineyard and resumed working for the Avant Gardener MV during July. There is something special about a Vineyard summer that is impossible to find anywhere else. Starting in August 2020 I moved to Oakland, CA to start my full time job as an engineer for LEE + RO Water/Wastewater Engineers in Walnut Creek, CA. At LEE + RO, I work as a supporting civil engineer whom is getting cross-trained in the mechanical and electrical engineering fields. I’ve been lucky enough to work on a wide arrange of projects, from pump stations in Solano County, to switchgear replacements in Antioch, to HVAC improvements in San Francisco. Living in Oakland has been a great experience. It is in close proximity to San Francisco, but more affordable. Yosemite, Big Sur, Lake Tahoe, Point Reyes, Los Padres, and Redwoods are all within a couple hours’ drive, and make for a great, COVID friendly, weekend trip. COVID depending, I hope to backpack the Lost Coast Trail in NorCal this spring. Organized sports, such as soccer, must remain activities to look forward to in the future. I’m only slightly very depressed… but my hopes of coaching soccer may resume later in 2021. In the meantime my current roommate, and former Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Cal Poly Student Chapter President, are continuing working for EWB. Together we are the Co-Student Outreach Coordinators for the San Francisco Professional (SFP) Chapter and working towards growing the student and young professional population of EWB. EWB SFP has a project in Weledi, Ethiopia, where we are working towards mitigating seasonal flooding.
Rose Engler - Brown University
When I began on my journey to an MD, my primary goal was to acquire a global medical education; I want to learn about cultural diversity and how it affects the human condition so that I can better understand my patients and the meaning of care. I followed this interest to Taiwan in 2019, where I studied Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In TCM, doctors do not treat an illness, but rather a person with an illness. My experience in Taiwan taught me that health care reaches far beyond the physical body and should aim to maintain a delicate harmony between the body and soul. Patient and physician interviews alongside discussions with healers, patient families, and Buddhist monks taught me that one’s mental, physical and spiritual health, society, culture, and environment all affect that harmony, and therefore, should all be cared for. A few months later, I traveled to Israel to conduct research on how internalized stigma affects the quality of life of people who are HIV+. The conglomerate of physician and patient interviews made one thing apparent: that illness has both physiological and psychosocial components that need to be discussed and addressed. This made me realize that in some ways, the goal of western medicine is beginning to align with that of eastern medicine, both approaches searching for harmony. These experiences have allowed me to interweave aspects of various religions, cultures, and values to create a multifaceted medical education that celebrates individualism. I hope to carry this mindset into the medical community when I become a physician with the goal of implementing an integrative medical practice that inspires doctors to tailor their care to their patient’s unique needs. I am incredibly humbled and grateful for the support and generosity of MVYouth. Thanks to their kindness, Brown University has become my incredible beginning, and the world has become my classroom. As we move into the future, I hope that the global community will continue to work together to contain the Coronavirus so that we can all begin to heal and move into our new normal.
Marissa D'Antonio - Boston College
This past semester was incredibly educational, difficult, and eye opening. I took a full course load, participated in clubs, and fell in love with weight lifting all during a global pandemic. This semester I took three business courses, an Italian course, and a course on Swift and iOS app development. This app development class was packed full of coding, interface design, and computer science principles, leading me to learn how to develop a full-stack app in one semester. Though this course was incredibly rigorous and challenging, it showed me that if I work hard at something and put the time in, I can learn anything. I plan on continuing to work on developing apps, and am thinking about seeking an internship in app development and design. As with everything else, none of my clubs were in person this semester. I am on the E-Board for Consultants for Social Impact, and was in charge of transitioning the club to be able to function remotely. We were incredibly successful in working with six non-profit organizations, doing consulting work, planning fundraising, and website development. This semester I continued my community service with 4Boston, tutoring for the Allston Brighton Community Development Center. Though this did not mean going into the city on the T like in semesters past, I was able to continue to watch my students learn and grow through an incredibly difficult time. I have known many of these kids for over two years now, but this semester we were all able to connect on a deeper level. Though online learning was tough for me, it was nothing compared to what low income students, with non-English speaking parents were going through. These kids truly taught me that you can achieve anything with resilience and a little bit of extra work. I plan to continue my work with them for the rest of my time at Boston College. Thank you so much MVYouth for having my back during this very difficult time. You have truly made it possible for me to continue my education through thick and thin.
Sam Cranston - University of Vermont
In early March of 2020, I headed off to Florida for a baseball tournament with the UVM Club Baseball team. My teammates and I laughed as we saw people wearing masks on the flight down, completely unaware of the pandemic that was about to engulf the world. About half way through the trip, we got the news that UVM would be closing indefinitely. Upon returning to Vermont, I packed up my dorm and headed home, leaving behind my new friends and an unforgettable freshman year. COVID-19 turned my world on its heels, squandering everything that had made college life so special. Yet throughout it all, I tried to make the most of the situation I was faced with. I raised my GPA significantly in both “COVID” semesters so far, including returning to campus this past fall, despite 95% of my classes taking place online. In the few in-person classes and labs I did have, I made the most of them by asking questions and staying after to work on chemistry problems with my professor. During the week, I was able to continue practicing with the baseball team, with intra-squad scrimmages taking place on weekends. Despite wearing masks, these scrimmages created a sense of normalcy to life that really helped me get through the semester. I even hit a double to the fence in the last scrimmage of the year, on my birthday no less. The past semester was full of challenges, and life on campus could feel sad at times. With that being said, I’m really happy I chose to go up to Vermont in person. Despite a few COVID scares and a week in the quarantine dorms, I was able to strengthen the friendships I created last year. I’m planning on returning to campus at the end of January, and cannot wait for life after the vaccine! I am forever thankful for the opportunities MVYouth has given me. Your belief in my potential drives me to succeed, even in an upside down world.
Gino Chick - New England Institute of Technology
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.