Jason Clarke

Jason Clarke is a graduate of Queens College, having completed a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a minor in Health Science. Jason plans to become a clinical laboratory scientist and to pursue a graduate or medical degree. Having worked a part time job throughout his entire college career taught him excellent time management skills. Jason is also highly social, he values quality time and making memories with his close friends at CUNY BMI Project ExCEL. He dedicates time to fitness through swimming and weightlifting; Jason is an exceptional swimmer and has swum for a full mile on multiple occasions. Highly ambitious and tenacious, he is able to stay focused on his goals while also maintaining work-life balance.

Aldair Ortiz

Aldair Ortiz is a Queens College Alum who majored in Accounting & Information Systems and Minored in Business and Liberal Arts. As a Mexican American first-generation college student, Aldair faced many obstacles and confusion while pursuing his educational and professional career. Queens College’s BMI Project ExCEL provided him with the safety net and family to support and guide him.  Throughout his five years at Queens College, Aldair took initiative in his professional career by attending campus events and joining extracurricular programs such as ALPFA QC. Through his leadership roles, Aldair was able to land four internships and was able to secure a full-time role with Bloomberg LP.

Sébastien Byron

Pythagore Charles

Pythagore Charles graduated from Queens College with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Political Science. At Queens College, he joined the CUNY BMI Project ExCEL as a mentee. His mentor, Nathaniel Page, and Program Director, Rajiv Singh, provided guidance and support for Pythagore’s career path and academic success. This led to multiple internships with the top 10 accounting firms and work on campus in the Academic Advising Center. Pythagore plans to pursue a career in accounting and work towards his CPA license. He hopes to be a resource and inspiration for future CUNY BMI and Project ExCEL students.

Nathaniel Page

Alexia Francis

Alexia Francis graduated from Queens College with Honors in Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Film Studies. She further aims to become a Mental Health Counselor by attending graduate school for mental health counseling. Ultimately, her dream is to open her own organization to provide affordable counselling and other services to anyone in need. Alexia was born to hardworking Jamaican immigrant parents who influenced her desire to affect change. She has always aspired to change the world in her own unique way but was not sure how to. Growing up in Jamaica, she started her journey with a focus in medicine but later realized that she wanted to help heal the minds of many people around her who were in need of mental wellness. She aims to change the negative stigma associated with mental illness and mental health, especially in low income communities like the one she grew up in.

During her time at Queens College, Alexia served in several capacities in her local church organizations, giving back to people in the community who were in need. She also teaches young children drama and dance as an outlet for worship and creativity. She also serves as a peer counselor and tutor, among other roles in community service. She is extremely grateful for the support of Project ExCEL, as it provided the necessary help she needed to propel herself forward. The program also provided a great sense of guidance and a community where students could be themselves.

Yasmin Jalil

Yasmin Jalil studied at Queens College for 7 years, completing her masters in Mental Health Counseling in addition to her bachelors in Psychology and Human Development & Family Studies. Yasmin has been a participant of Project ExCEL since freshman year of her undergraduate studies. Project ExCEL has helped her shape academic career, as she did not have any guidance prior to joining the program. With the help of Rajiv Singh and Jorge Alguera, she strengthened her sense of leadership, followed the career path that seemed to be the right fit for her, and pushed forward in the exploration of opportunities. While Yasmin initially aspired to become a pediatrician, upon taking her first psychology course and discovering mental health, her aspirations changed entirely. She built her resume through personal engagement with the community such as volunteering at a homeless shelter, educating children about the environment at Central Park Zoo, and being a Peer Mentor at Project ExCEL to help college students smoothly navigate through their undergraduate career. Her dedication to assisting others continues as she is now Program Coordinator and Advisor at Project ExCEL. She also works at a mental health clinic, helping clients overcome anxiety and depression. Yasmin loves providing assistance and opportunities to those in need, especially to underserved communities.

Alyssa Torchon

Alyssa Torchon is the child of Haitian Immigrants and the first of her family to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree. She studied Communication Sciences and Disorders at Queens College, where she also obtained a minor in Anthropology and Psychology. She has been a part of the CUNY Black Male Initiative since her sophomore year, where she started out as a mentee, and soon became a mentor. During her time at Queens College she worked as an assistant teacher at the Child Development Center at Queens College and as a Site Director for the summer SAT prep-program, Let’s Get Ready (LGR), targeted towards disadvantaged high school students. Alyssa will be pursing her graduate education at Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions to study Medical Speech-Language Pathology and she hopes to get a PhD in this field in the future as well. She would like to thank the CUNY Black Male Initiative for all the support and guidance that she received during her time at Queens College.

Jessica Massiah

Jessica Massiah graduated with a double major in Comparative Literature and Psychology at Queens College. She will be moving to Georgia to pursue her Masters in Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia. She has later aspirations to pursue her PHD. Since her childhood, Jessica had always loved to read and was notably shy. At Queens College, she had the comfort of attending the school her father worked at and attended. Her early experience at Queens College started in the Aaron Copland School of Music where she attended The Lawrence Eisman Center for Preparatory Studies in Music at the age of 5. She continued her musical studies up until her graduation from high school, and later sought to pursue Biology as an undergraduate. She joined Project ExCEL through contact with the Academic Advising Center on campus. From there she became a mentee and later had the distinguished opportunity to serve as a mentor for two years. The Project ExcEL community on campus helped Massiah develop her voice, encouraging her to be a more active member by her senior year. She applied to the Mellon Mays undergraduate fellowship with the assistance from then Project ExCEL Director, Jorge Alguera.  Fortunately, she received the prestigious fellowship and constructed a thesis on Obeah in her parents’ native country, Guyana. She has cited Project ExCEL’s community as her home base on a large commuter campus, and with the help from Project ExCEL staff, she balanced her workload and had a place to unwind, learn from her peers and meet a multitude of people with similar aspirations.

Shaquille Jones

Shaquille Jones graduated with a Sociology degree and a Data Analytics minor at Queens College. As a recipient of The Dream US scholarship and a participant of CUNY BMI: Project ExCEL, Shaquille focused his efforts on promoting awareness of undocumented students, like himself, by participating in special projects and events that surrounds similar topics as related to immigration. Through such efforts, Shaquille has been showcased in a documentary film entitled “Breach: The Plight of America’s Undocumented Youth,” which encapsulates the personal experience faced by undocumented youths as related to family, well-being and navigating society. Similarly, in the capacity of being a College Coach, Shaquille has worked with high school students by serving as a mentor, helping with the college admission process and being by their side every step of the way, ensuring that his students’ transition from high school to college is not an overburdening experience.

Shaquille plans on developing his quantitative and technical skills by participating in a fellowship focused on the area of Data Analytics, followed by enrolling in Queens College’s Master’s Program in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research.