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Manny Mejia: BCC's Representative to CUNY's New Leadership Initiative
April 15, 2009
Bronx, NY - Manuel Arsenis Mejia Fernandez, better known by fellow students at BCC as Manny Mejia, is a member of a special group at City University. He is one of 28 students to become a member of CUNY's new Leadership Academy out of 480,000 students.
The Leadership Academy is a new CUNY initiative to move its students into the new millennium by helping them to learn leadership skills. It has recognized that all positions in this world require leadership skills.
[The responsibilities of these new leaders are to bring together a sustainable alumni board and to work on service projects throughout the year. The ultimate goal will be the creation of an innovative and sustainable service project that will positively change New York City, and eventually all of New York and the rest of America.
It's a heavy responsibility. Mejia believes he is up to the task. He is a computer science major with a 4.0 average. Even though he won't graduate until 2010, he has his sights set on going to Boston University. He credits his dad who is a trucker and his mother, who sells food from a cart, as being the biggest influences for keeping his sights set on college.
Why was he chosen for the CUNY Leadership program? "I was selected because I demonstrated a commitment to service work and making a difference in my community. I have done volunteer work in the community, such as helping immigrants apply for citizenship, through CUNY and its Citizenship Now! Initiative. I also helped spread Hispanic art and culture in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan," says Mejia.
A member of the Student World Assembly on campus, Mejia plans to run for president of the student body.
The computer savvy Mejia adds, "My career goals include becoming successful enough to make giant contributions to inner city kids. I will accomplish this by being a leading researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). [AI is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it.] I want to be responsible for making a major breakthrough in the field and to be part of the eventual creation of artificial beings."
Why? "I want to do this because I am a city kid who was lost in the lights, unaware of the possibilities and opportunities waiting for me. I have always been computer savvy and believe my curiosity in artificial Intelligence to be a reachable goal."
From Bani in the Dominican Republic, Mejia lives in the Bronx with his mom, dad, two sisters and his six-year-old daughter. He's not the first to go to college in his family. His sister went to Brown University and is now an assistant director at J. P. Morgan Chase bank.
Looking back, Mejia's college career didn't advance the way he had hoped. He attended Christopher Columbus High School, Walton High School and John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, but too often, he says, fell in with the wrong crowd.
He came to Bronx Community College in 2004 after failing the writing composition test for Lehman College by one point. "I was told that I needed to take a remedial English class at BCC. I could have gone back to Lehman after my first semester, but I decided to stay at Bronx Community College," says Mejia.
Shortly after enrolling he dropped out of BCC because of legal problems and the need to go to work. It wasn’t until 2008 that he was able to make it back to Bronx Community College at age 24.
"I really like the campus. Even though I'm in the middle of the Bronx, it makes me feel as though I’m on a campus in a foreign state," says Mejia. The professors have been great. I have been fortunate to have come in contact with some of the best professors, from Political Science Professor Jim Freeman and Psychology Professor Monique Guishard to Mathematics and Computer Science Professors Sharon Persinger, Jorge Pineiro, and Madelaine Bates, and English Professor Andrew Rowan. They have helped me with scholarship applications and work study jobs. Manny Lopez and Melissa Kirk in the Office of Student Life have also been very helpful," shares Mejia.
"Bronx Community College has offered me an opportunity to look at the world with grander eyes. Thanks to BCC, for the first time, I will travel out of the states to a destination other than my homeland on my spring break. I am part of the Salzburg Global Seminar and will be studying abroad in Austria for a week. Student Life at BCC opened my eyes to the fact that there is more to school than just classes," states Mejia.
The signature program of the CUNY LEADERSHIP Academy, the Fellows Program provides a unique academic and co-curricular opportunity for students who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership on their campuses and in their communities. This innovative year-long program brings together best practices in leadership development from across CUNY, and beyond. The students of the CLP, called Leadership Academy Fellows, are selected from across the University. This year's cohort represents 15 Colleges and 20 majors. The Fellows experience state of the art multicultural leadership education with emphasis on service, community building, global perspectives, and innovation.
Press, Radio, TV
Please call: Bryant Mason
Media Relations Specialist
(718) 289-5208
bryant.mason@bcc.cuny.edu
Bronx Community College (BCC) of The City University of New York is in its 51st anniversary year of service to students in New York City in 2008. Over the past seven years, enrollment has increased 30 per cent to 9,000 students, reflecting the reliance of the surrounding communities on it as a pathway to a better life. BCC President Carolyn G. Williams is in her 12th year of leadership service to the College, which is located on a 43-acre campus at 2155 University Avenue at West 181st Street , formerly New York University's uptown campus until 1973.
BCC students from over 109 nations receive an excellent preparation to go on to four-year colleges or to advance into successful vocational careers. Programs offered at BCC include Digital Arts, Computer Information Systems, Education Associate, Nursing, Nuclear Medicine Technology, RadiologicTechnology, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology, Electronic Engineering Technology, Liberal Arts, Marketing, Accounting, Human Services, Media Technology and Paralegal Studies.
The College is home to initiatives not commonly associated with two-year institutions, such as the Center for Sustainable Energy, which promotes the use of renewable and efficient energy technologies in urban communities. The National Center for Educational Alliances (NCEA) is currently collaborating with South African Further Education and Training Colleges and universities to create linkages between these institutions. NCEA also coordinates the College's international initiatives and the annual International Education Week.
The Center has also facilitated a campus wide effort to create BCC's Center for Tolerance and Understanding. The Center for Teaching Excellence offers faculty development to promote student achievement and to stimulate discussions to keep the teaching and learning process vital and dynamic. Take a look at BCC's website at www.bcc.cuny.edu
