Scholar Profiles

In our society, it is increasingly important to obtain a college degree or equivalent formal education. However, as the importance of an education continues to rise, so do the fees necessary to obtain a degree. At Beyond the Boroughs, we believe that a higher education should not be reserved for a select few, but for all students who have the desire to attend.

Our applicants are simply amazing. These are youth who have faced incredible odds and hardships both financially and emotionally and have displayed the courage, motivation and intellectual prowess to continue on their mission to achieve a formal education. Simply stated these young men and women deserve to go to college.

Below are brief excerpts from some of our current scholars:

Presently Attending: Culinary Institute, Hyde Park, NY
Home Town: Bronx, NY
The most challenging time in my life was when my father was killed during a carjacking. It broke my family and me. I loved my father very much, and he was the person that taught me everything I know. I handled it by doing what I love — cooking. When I reached the seventh grade, I decided to make it a career. I know that would be the best way to follow in my father’s footsteps and make him proud.

Presently Attending: Johnson & Wales, Providence, RI
Home Town: Brooklyn, NY
Going to college has been a life-long dream for me. I learned early that attending college is necessary to advance in any career. In order to excel in the food industry, you are required to complete training in this field, but I decided to go even further with my education and obtain a college degree as well.

Presently Attending: Mount Holyoke, South Hadley, MA
My mother has very traditional views on gender roles and originally discouraged me from applying to college outside of Manhattan. Although she was reluctant at first, I assured her that as a young adult I needed to learn to become more independent and to meet new, diverse people from which I can learn.

Presently Attending: Mount Holyoke, South Hadley, MA
Home Town: Brooklyn, NY
I was born in Tibet into a nomadic family, and I was a shepherd until I was eight years old. It was winter when I left my country and my family. With the fear of getting caught by the Chinese police at the border, I hid in a car under the luggage until night to cross the border from Nepal to India. I took this journey without a passport to take advantage of the opportunity to study that the Tibetan Community in Exile offers. I took that risk, and it has brought many rewards in my life. I could now go to school and study my own culture. Going to school in India widened my perspective on the world and eventually opened up new paths for my family and me — one of those paths led me to America.

Presently Attending: St. John’s University, Queens, NY
Home Town: Chicago, IL
My friend sat with me when I opened my college acceptance letter. I was so nervous I was crying before I opened the envelope. When I read I was accepted, we both screamed and ran around the room screaming and crying tears of joy. I know that college will give me the chance to explore my passion for science on a higher level and lead me to a career, not just a job. The knowledge I will gain from this experience is one thing no one can ever take away from me.

Presently Attending: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Home Town: New York, NY
After my father fell into a coma in 2006, I found it very difficult to get through the day happy because I felt that he was missing out. However, instead of being sad, I applied myself in school more than I ever. I wanted to make my father proud once he awoke. He woke up three months later, my grades were very high and he was very proud of me.

Presently Attending: Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Home Town: Southfield, MI
Something that I have found challenging in my life are a few characteristics I have been blessed with — being Nigerian and dark-skinned. Over the last four years, these characteristics have been a major part of my life. I used to allow other students to pre-judge my heritage and dark skin as lower than them. However, in my last year of high school, God helped me by giving me the confidence to become the woman I was destined to be.

Presently Attending: University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Home Town: Miami, FL
College is important to me because of my family’s history. My mother and father have worked so hard and struggled so much that the importance of an education has been apparent to me all of my life. College is the path to my success and making my family proud.