Back in high school, I was looking to make a change. My habits weren’t healthy, and my academics suffered. I wanted to become a different person. That’s when I joined Voyages Preparatory High School.
I worked as a microbiologist for over 20 years. Doctors would send me blood samples and I would check the bacteria and see which antibiotic would make the patient better. Then I would report to the doctor. I am proud of my career.
A friend introduced me to Generation Q when I was a sophomore in high school. It was there I built the community that would one day become the lifeline I needed during my transition to becoming a woman.
Community organizing was a value instilled in me at a young age. When I was a teenager, I was a participant in almost all of Queens Community House's afterschool programs, including the first Access for Young Women cohort, a girls' leadership program.
I’ve lived in Kew Gardens all my life. My parents were German immigrants who moved to New York during the war. They spoke German and English with us children at home and French when they didn’t want us to understand. That’s what sparked my great love for languages.
I started attending St. Lukes in Forest Hills after my sister passed in 2002 . I joined in order to take my niece, who’d grown up going to church with her mom. I slowly got involved, first by joining the choir, then by joining the church’s outreach program.
Last Summer my friend asked me to go to a job fair with him. I already had a summer job lined up, so I tagged along for fun. I consider it kind of miraculous what happened next.
Growing up in South Jamaica, it was either you get a summer job or you hang out at the park all day. Even at a young age, I knew the latter wasn’t for me. When I was 16, I applied for SYEP (Summer Youth Employment Program) and landed my first job working at a QCH Summer Camp in Forest Hills.
I moved to the United States from Uzbekistan last year with my family. We are a family of six, and I’m the oldest, so it is my responsibility to help my parents and teach my siblings.
