#SoCanU: From Community College to the Ivy League (to med school!)

Featured below is an interview with another #SoCanU project rockstar, Felix! Felix graduated from Atlantic Cape Community College Spring 2014 and will graduate with his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016.

Favorite thing to do on the weekends?
Spending time with friends and family is by far the best way to have fun.

Favorite food/meal? 
I love everything my girlfriend cooks for me.

What made you decide to choose community college?I had no idea what to do with my life and at the time I was not bold enough to apply to any other kind of higher education.

Were there any obstacles in your life prior to attending community college that you had to overcome?
I had to overcome the fact that I had more potential than what I once believed. As a child I never took education serious thus, I felled behind in all subjects. 

I had to work during my community college experience and take 5-7 courses a semester in order to graduate with my three degrees. There were many times I crashed because I believed I was not good enough for this, but man was I wrong.

I stayed extremely focused, a little too focused if you ask me. You see I came to the point that I wanted to understand how I learn and how I can study most effectively. I literally took a semester or two not doing any extracurricular because I had to understand how to ace my courses. 

I consolidated the fact your resume means nothing if you can’t balance your courses. So I remained positive and through my actions, I began to think big instead of small. 

With time and perseverance I managed to learn how time-manage all my courses, work, girlfriend, friends, family, extracurricular, and having a life.

What are you most excited about for your future right now?
I am really excited to apply to medical school. My premed adviser gave me the two thumbs up that I am a very competitive applicant for medical school despite the fact that I began at a community college.

What is the best piece of advice you can give our readers who are currently attending community college?
Do not ever let society make your decisions. Remain humble and do not accept anything life throws at you. Stay definite in all of your aspirations and be ready to have a couple of failures throughout your life. 

But do not take these failures as negative, look at it as a positive to aid you in what you have done wrong in order to improve your future. Have a well-organized plan and stick to them. 

Have a major goal in life and always work hard to obtain and have many minor goals, all in which will lead to your central scheme. Don’t ever blame others for your mistakes and always have full control your mind and use it for great purposes.