From Our News Archive
F&C alumni spotlight of Jennifer Jiminian, Hunter College class of 2023
F&C alumni spotlight of Kevin Medina, Stony Brook University class of 2023
The 2023 Jon Carlo Dominguez award goes to Shanthal Ramos Bueno, a senior at University Heights High School. This fall, Shanthal will be the first in her family to attend college when she begins classes at the University of Chicago.
Though Shanthal thought of herself as a math and science person without a lot of imagination, she stood out this summer for her authentic spirit of inquiry. When she applied to F&C, the topic she most wanted to work on was mental health. She wrote, “Society has unreachable toxic standards that often influence the way people view and treat themselves…
"I decided to enter the field of social work because of some of the things I saw growing up. Witnessing my family navigate life in the Bronx after immigrating from the Dominican Republic and having recognized that their identities influenced the services that they received and the kind of care that they needed motivated me. I thought social work was the best way to focus on how our identities come into play and how we can serve people in different ways. Seeing some of the challenges as well as the resilience that Bronxites have, pushed me right into the career I’m pursuing. It's been such an…
“Reading the students’ papers, I’d think, ‘Wow, I never thought about it this way,’ though I’ve read these texts five, six times,” Abel said. “They think outside the box.” The Freedom & Citizenship program gives New York City students exposure to college-level coursework, drawing inspiration from the Columbia College course, Contemporary Civilization.
Columbia Neighbors Newsletter highlights four seniors from Freedom and Citizenship to learn about their college plans and what they liked most about our program! Read the article here.
In an interview for New York's Amsterdam News, Democracy Prep senior Sage Bing says of F&C, "One thing I learned was that I’m not always right. In the program, the readings and new perspectives showed me life isn’t so black and white." While all seven of the Democracy Prep students in F&C this year are female, Sage hopes more males will join the program next year. “There were a lot of girls, so of course, that’s a good thing, but I feel like males, especially males of color, don’t push themselves enough to make themselves vulnerable,” she said.
In an article for The Bronx's Norwood News, F&C alumna Debora Camacho talks about her decision to take a chance on studying philosophy with Freedom and Citizenship in 2020. "The thought of [studying] philosophy, thinking about it really hurt my brain……but I went for it,” Camacho said. “Why not take philosophy?”
In an opinion piece for the New York Daily News, F&C Director Roosevelt Montás writes about discovering Socrates as a teenage immigrant living in Queens and what the "Great Books" can do for high school students today. Read the full story here.
