White House Opens Its Doors to Local College-Bound Teens
Although Isaac Guerrero didn't have a computer of his own, 17 of the country’s top universities wanted him to pick their computer engineering program this fall.
"I didn’t expect to get into that many of them,” he said. “I just felt overwhelmed and proud of my accomplishments."
The celebration continued on Thursday when Guerrero, 18, was among 130 students to attend an event at the White House hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. The day of workshops and panels is part of her Reach Higher initiative which encourages kids to pursue education beyond high school.
Guerrero, born and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, told WNYC it was his parents who pushed him to reach higher because of the premium they put on education.
But it wasn't until last year that he figured out he wanted to pursue engineering and computer science, thanks to a conversation with a Facebook software engineer. That's why he was so happy when he received an acceptance email from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in March.
“MIT was a special one because it was on Pi Day,” he said. “That was another aspect that I liked about the school; the nerdy culture. I thought I’d fit there.”
Guerrero graduated from Medgar Evers College Preparatory High School in June and landed a summer internship at NASA through The Opportunity Network, a non-profit that mentors bright, low-income students throughout high school and college.
Overall, 19 New York City students attended the White House event, including Nsilo Mavour from Brooklyn Technical High School, Anthony Neciosup from Long Island City High School and Emir Brown from Democracy Prep Charter School.
President Barack Obama paid the students a surprise visit.
"It was just amazing," Guerrero said.
According to Jessica Pliska, founder and CEO of The Opportunity Network, there was nothing more powerful for the students than listening to the First Lady tell her story and realizing she was one of them.
Guerrero agreed.
"It gave me hope," he said.
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