Matthew B.

I live in Canarise in Brooklyn, New York where I have been raised by two immigrant parents, a Jamaican mother and a Trinidadian father, and have four siblings.  From my family's example, I have developed an appreciation for hard work.  This appreciation has in turn instilled in me a sound work ethic from which I have obtained both a more realistic understanding of the challenges of work and a steady belief that I can, with care, overcome those challenges.  I currently attend Princeton University where I plan to major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and minor in Creative Writing.  My first love has always been science, a love for the natural world that stems from reading non-fiction books at a young age.

I recognize Princeton as a great opportunity, but I also know that that is all that it is – an opportunity.  I realize that opportunities are not guarantees; one has to make them so.   I feel that I must understand the success and pitfalls of my past, but that even more importantly I must acknowledge that more is yet to come.  For this reason I am here with NYNY, a program that I feel helps one to not just map, but journey through life, while at the same time giving that person the opportunity to help others – a system of give and take that is truly noteworthy.