Recently in Brooklyn, N.Y., five budding young minds were awarded for their resilience, determination, positive effect within their academic ranks, and overall powerful spirit at the Second Annual “Do Right, Do Good” Scholarship ceremony.
Led by successful entrepreneur Jean Alerte and New York City Council member Robert Cornegy (36th District), education and inspiration were the themes highlighted at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall. Four triumphant young people were being celebrated for their “Do Right, Do Good” attitude, as they each individually overcame adversity to become upstanding members within their respective communities.
Inspired by Mark Twain, Alerte and his associates wanted to double-down on empowering the youth by honoring deserving scholars who are working on attending college. Supporting this positive endeavor were politicians such as the aforementioned Robert Cornegy Jr., Sen. Kevin Parker, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Last year, Alerte and company awarded 15 students with scholarships, which were powered by sales from his book by the same name (Do Right, Do Good).
The Brooklyn Swirl owner partnered with former NFL star Tutan Reves of Beyond the Boroughs National Scholarship Fund to administer awards of up to $2,000 per year, renewable over four years. Beyond the Boroughs is a 501-c3 public charity that awards “last dollars in” scholarships to students across the country.
As the “Do Right, Do Good” team continues to celebrate the accomplishments of young academics across the globe, Jean Alerte and all of his entrepreneurial connections continue to selflessly contribute to the improvement of our neighborhood and its residents. We here at Black Enterprise commend all parties involved (and the sponsors) for helping these students take one giant step closer to their goal of attending college regardless of circumstance.
While only four were present to receive their scholarships, each individual has a story that is worth reading about and appreciating. We were fortunate enough to get the full scoop on each student and a video recap of the event that you can see on the next page.
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Video By: Emmanuel Afolabi of ACA MEDIA
Christian Hernandez
Christian Hernandez is not only one of our scholarship recipients, he is also a prime example of someone who embodies the principles of the Do Right Do Good Movement. He is an ambitious and focused student who has just completed his freshman year at The City College of New York (CCNY) with an impressive 3.5 GPA. Christian is majoring in English and minoring in Spanish, all while being on the pre-med track with the hopes to one day become a doctor. He writes for his college’s student publication, The Campus Magazine, and has been able to land not one — but two competitive internships — one that he has completed at the Waldorf Astoria and another he has just started at Tishman Speyer.
In addition to being an outstanding student and a dedicated intern, Hernandez has somehow found the time and energy to give back to his community as well. In his spare time, he volunteers at his old high school as a co-coach for the wrestling team, tutors other high school students in English and algebra, and also taught an SAT verbal class for four months while guiding his students through the college application process. Next, he plans on volunteering at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Hernandez is a true example of what it means to Do Right and Do Good, for himself and for those in his community. A committed scholar, a young philanthropist, and a future doctor.
Amira Gee
Amira Gee is a native of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Right off the bat, she impressed with her determination and tenacity to not only better herself, but those around her and in her community. In her application, she quotes Mahatma Ghandi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.†Amira took this quote to heart and applied it to her life through action. An innovator with the “Do Right Do Good Spirit,†Gee started the “Bedford Environment Sustainability Team†at her school — an organization dedicated to teach and demonstrate to students various ways of becoming more environmentally friendly. She has future plans to continue her environmental sustainability effort by creating the Community Improvement Project, where she will gather her peers to help beautify Bed-Stuy by sweeping and collecting recyclable materials.
An aspiring pediatric surgeon, Gee continues to inspire and impress with her ambition. In order to get experience working with children, she has volunteered with Boys and Girls Club and regularly works at her mother’s day care center. She writes in her application “through this simple task of trying to give back to the community, I hope I was able to inspire the next generation.†Gee never forgets that in bettering herself, she can and wants to influence the lives of others positively as well.
Because of her giving spirit, her high aspirations, and her ability to not only plan for her future, but to take action to affect positive change, Gee embodies everything that Do Right Do Good stands for. She is an inspiration to the entire Do Right Do Good team, as well as those who undoubtedly look to her as a role model in her community. She’s about to enter her second year at
Xavier University and will be a residential assistant and the president of the Celibacy and Abstinence Network (CAN). She wants to utilize her knowledge, personal experiences, and faith to help her peers.Daniel Pottinger
Daniel Pottinger, a Jamaica, Queens native, is a recent graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. Faced with the many challenges associated with entering a vastly different social and academic environment, Pottinger took the initiative by campaigning to become president of his freshman class. In his sophomore year of high school he competed against seniors when he enrolled in an entrepreneur program. By constantly staying focused, doing a lot of research, and refusing to be intimidated, he was able to present the best business plan, win the competition, and even bring his plan into fruition after completion of the program. His company, Elite Entertainment NYC, for which he is CEO, finds safe locations and venues in New York City for teens to gather and have fun.
Pottinger’s active membership with the Glamour Gals Cardozo High School Chapter during his junior and senior years is another testament to the strength of his character and how much he embodies the principles of Do Right, Do Good. His main experience with Glamour Gals was visiting different senior citizen centers throughout Queens spending the day entertaining and bonding with the elderly and also giving them beauty makeovers. His inspiration behind wanting to help the elderly: the passing of his beloved grandmother who left a wonderful legacy of always positively impacting the lives of others. A blog entry on the GlamourGals website entitled, “An Extraordinary GlamourGals Volunteer: Daniel Pottinger,†quotes Daniel explaining, in part: “Whenever I would go to visit [my grandmother], I would always do everything for her, without even thinking twice … She would tell me so many different stories about growing up, her childhood, her experiences. It would always be something that showed me a life lesson: how to be a young man, how to do things just because it’s right, not because you’re getting something out of it.â€
By the end of the blog entry, one is truly left with an impression of what a passionate and motivated young man Pottinger is, and of his innate ability to blaze his own path. Despite being a well-respected member of the wrestling team, he got flak from some of his male peers for his choice to provide manicures and other beauty related services to the elderly in his community, but he went with what he felt was the best way to make a difference while honoring the memory of his grandmother.
This fall, Pottinger embarks on the journey to college, where he plans on studying business management and accounting.
Kareem Crump
Kareem Crump is a product of Brooklyn, New York and of the Medgar Evers College Preparatory school. In his own words he explains his personal philosophy: “I learned that you don’t always have to be the loudest to make a change in the world. Sometimes the biggest change is to start locally, then to expand globally. All you need is the spark, an idea to influence your greater surroundings … Change starts within you, and is reflected in change of the world.â€
Service to his community is the driving force behind Crump’s desire to go to college. Aside from the proactive, hands-on service he knows he will provide to his community on completion of his collegiate studies, his example as a young man of color in his community pursuing higher education already is a source of inspiration. Crump’s acute awareness of the need to work in service of others found expression long before his high school years–at his Alma matter, Meyer Levin Junior High School, he enjoyed volunteering as a youth service worker.
Crump acknowledges that being a leader did not always come naturally for him. One of the most difficult challenges he faced was being unexpectedly thrust into a leadership role during a corporate presentation for a program of which he was a part at Goldman Sachs. His CEO and COO were unable to attend the presentation and now his team was dependent on him to lead them. What resulted was a series of stumbles and technical difficulties but he and his team persevered. Crump learned that in order to be an effective leader he had to let go of his fears and tackle the situation head on.
With plans to major in criminal justice, Crump envisions a career in public advocacy with hopes to eventually promote positive change on a global scale. He cites countries like Iran, North Korea, and Nepal as places where expression is stifled and “free thought†materials are suppressed. Armed with compassion and perseverance, who knows what this young man can achieve in his efforts to promote equality and an improved human condition? His future is extremely bright.
Tenzin Choekyi
Tenzin Choekyi has only been in the United States for three years. A resident of Brooklyn, she attended the International High School at Prospect Heights. An empowerment school, International High addresses the needs of recent immigrant students through a rigorous curriculum that focuses on English fluency and interdisciplinary and cross cultural collaboration.
Choekyi has come a long way figuratively and literally. She remembers the winter of 2003 when she
was 5 years old playing with rocks outside of her tent in the village where her nomad group lived in Tibet. Her mother suddenly ran toward her, grabbed her hand and said with the utmost urgency, “Move quick. Don’t talk.†Here began a dangerous three-month journey on foot to escape the harsh realities of life under the Chinese military. After braving harsh terrain and only traveling at night to prevent detection, her group of refugees finally arrived at their destination in north India. Soon thereafter, her mom sent her to boarding school in South India. In Tibet, children do not have the opportunity to attend school as the custom is to marry young and go off to work.Choekyi fully understands the sacrifice and pain her mother endured to ensure that she got an education and a better life for herself. Their journey inspires her to “Work harder, think deeper and never give up.†As secretary of the National Honor Society, one of her greatest responsibilities is overseeing the tutoring center. She matches up students who need help with schoolwork with peer tutors. She recalls not too long ago as a 9th grader new not only to the school, but to the country, how much the tutoring center played a pivotal role in her academic and social life. None of the tutors spoke Tibetan and at first the only means of communication was through body language, hand signals, and drawings. Now a seasoned leader and decision maker, Choekyi wrote the following regarding her approach: “I don’t necessarily match a tutee with a tutor who speaks the same language … I don’t want tutees to rely so heavily on that shared language. They need to practice English and learn concepts in English.†She goes on to state, “I will use the skills I have developed as head of the tutoring center throughout my life, especially my ability to work with and manage different types of people effectively. More than anything, working at the tutoring center has shown me how good it feels to make a difference in someone’s life.â€
In college, Choekyi looks forward to studying sociology and Chinese, with hopes to actually study abroad in China and learn more about Chinese government and culture. Ever conscious of her Tibetan roots and the continued struggles of her people, it is her aim to help improve Chinese-Tibetan relations and explore alternatives to human rights violations and poverty that can bring about social change and conflict resolution.
For more information about the Do Right, Do Good scholarships, please click here.