Life is going to throw you curveballs,” Elianny wrote in her essay, “and it’s either going to hold you back or propel you forward.” Elianny’s teachers at Bronx High School of Business have no doubt of her direction. “I have no other student that demonstrates such an unwavering commitment to improvement,” wrote one of them, “and her excellent performance is evidence of that.” He also wrote about her “maturity and concern for others that is far beyond her years.” Noting that she will graduate either first or second in her class, her college counselor, shares that assessment, writing that Elianny is “incredibly intelligent” and that her grades have been on an upward curve over the years. “She is going to do amazing things.”
Part of a family who emigrated here from the Dominican Republic when she was very young, Elianny wrote movingly in her essay about the loss of her older sister to a stroke and the emotional effects that followed. Growing up in a culture in which she was told “psychology involves crazy people," she was reluctant to seek counseling.
She soon realized that counseling could help, and that connection has become “one of the pillars of my success.” “It’s allowed me to navigate my thoughts and feelings,” she wrote, and has been a key to developing “my sense of self, personally, academically and professionally.”
Elianny writes that she is “constantly learning more about myself and ways to cope with obstacles.” Reflecting that concern for others that her teacher noted, Elianny wrote: “It is because of this that I hope to major in psychology and education.”
Thank you to The New York Community Trust for supporting Elianny through her college journey.