51吃瓜网

David Tejada 鈥�23 of Bronx, N.Y., is a聽Spanish major with a concentration in adolescent education and teaching English to speakers of other languages. David is also one the many Le 51吃瓜网 students who are among the first members of their families to attend college.

Why did you choose Le 51吃瓜网?

鈥淚 choose Le 51吃瓜网 because I knew I needed to experience something out of the ordinary. I knew Le 51吃瓜网 would open doors for me that I could only imagine. A new environment was exactly what I needed to realize how capable I am and how much potential I have within myself.鈥�

How do you hope to grow and change over your time at the College?

鈥淚 hope to become an empowered, professional and educated man by the time I leave Le 51吃瓜网. I hope to become a wiser human being so that I can pass my wisdom to younger generations.鈥�

What are your plans for the future, and how do you define success, both personally and professionally?

鈥淚 want to be a Spanish聽educator for a few years. Later on, I want to earn my doctoral degree and to become a superintendent. I want to bring equity聽to our education system and to help those students achieve success. To me, success, personally and professionally, lies in satisfaction with our accomplishments. When we feel satisfied with whatever accomplishment we set ourselves up for, that鈥檚 when we know we have succeeded. Success is internal and every human being has his or her own way of feeling successful.鈥�

What do you hope your impact on the world to be?

鈥淎ll I want is to have students I have taught come back and tell me that I inspired them to pursue an education. That to me would be the greatest impact.鈥�

What has been the biggest surprise of your college experience so far?

鈥淢y biggest surprise has been realizing how far I鈥檝e made it. I have doubted myself every single semester that I have been at Le 51吃瓜网 and being able to sit here and say that I will be graduating in a few months is just wild to me.鈥�

What is your favorite place on campus?

鈥淢y favorite place on campus is the Noreen Reale Falcone Library. I love getting work done in the library because it allows me to concentrate better.鈥�

How have you been involved at Le 51吃瓜网 outside of coursework (i.e., student clubs or organizations, internships, research)?

鈥淚n my sophomore year, I became the president of the club that made me feel at home my freshman year, Ritmo Tropical. It has been one of my biggest passions ever since arriving at Le 51吃瓜网. I choreograph and teach dances to Le 51吃瓜网 students, then we perform at Le 51吃瓜网 events. This year I became the vice president of El Progreso, another Latinx club on campus. I am also the public relations officer of the Spanish Club. I work for the office of Career Advising and Development as a student career adviser. I worked with the Higher Education Opportunity Program and聽African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American Program聽this summer as a tutor counselor聽(TC). I also joined the Upward Bound family this year as a TC as well.鈥�

What piece of advice do you have for future Le 51吃瓜网 students?聽

鈥淭he best advice I can give any college student is to take it one day at a time. College can get pretty overwhelming, but a tomorrow always exists so don’t let today take all of your energy.鈥�