Illustration

Someone I know

*My friend Carlos never ceases to amaze me*. He has overcome many obstacles to be where he is today. I admire his compassion, dedication, generosity, and ambition to reach his dream. Carlos didn't let anything stand in his way of earning his Masters Degree in Statistics from Hunter College. Despite being raised by a single mother and growing up in a low-income poverty neighborhood, he stayed focused and made his dream come true.

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I met Carlos over five years ago and because of him, I'm back in school today. When I met Carlos, he was attending Hunter College for his Masters Degree in Statistics and working full time at night for the MTA as a track worker. College is tough, and statistics is definitely one of the tougher subjects. The amount of time and energy that Carlos had to put into his work truly showed devotion. In addition to school and his full time job, Carlos also supported his mother and younger sister who has Down syndrome. Carlos accomplished all of this while putting himself through school.

His ambition and strive to achieve his dream meant giving many of the normal daily activities. He made the decision to have no televisions in his apartment because they were too much of a distraction. His personal life was very dull because he had to time to socialize. He had true dedication and focused on his dream. His books and computer were his life for a couple of years. His bookshelves were full of mathematical theory books, statistics and computer technology. Not the usual library collection seen on someone's bookshelf.

Carlos graduated with honors and became a professor at the college he attended. His compassion and generosity to his students stood out. I remember one time when he went beyond his duties as a professor to help a student. Since he was raised by a single mother, Carlos knew how hard raising children alone was. One of his students had just came from Nicaragua with her mother and two sisters. They didn't have much money, and the student didn't have a computer. Carlos recognized her intelligence and wanted to help her. He gave her a computer. After rebuilding it and installing new software, he personally delivered the computer to her at home. Her facial expression conveyed to Carlos the difference he had made with her.

Today