Colin Powell School
Tony Huertas
2021 Salutatorian for Colin Powell School
Where are you from? Please share a little of your story.
I am a proud student of Puerto Rican descent, born and raised in NYC. I am also a member of the LGBTQ community and I have a disability. I returned to the classroom after a thirty-year absence because I realized that there was more that I wanted to accomplish and there is no expiration date for learning and realizing the dream of graduating from college. As a member of the LGBTQ community sometimes we are precluded from accessing and pursuing certain fields of study or not wanted in certain areas. Prior to my obtaining my Associates Degree and then coming to City College, this framed my ethos on top of having a disability. Today, many people want to define you for your disability. As a result, we often listen to voices in our heads that say, “your disability and your sexual orientation will limit you or preclude you from becoming the person you want to be or pursuing a certain field.” However, I know now that we are not defined by our disabilities or sexual orientations and we all can have the potential to succeed and to realize the goals that we have.
I endeavored to enroll in City College before I became a student here in the fall of 2019. In 2017, I went to the admissions office and told them, “I want to be a student here.” They said that I had been out of school for far too long and that I had to go to community college first and that I needed my prerequisites. It was then that I made up my mind that I was going to attempt to accomplish that goal. I enrolled in Borough of Manhattan Community College, and one and a half years later I graduated and received my Associates Degree. I also used to watch CCNY graduation videos, and I used to say to myself that one day I wanted to be as successful as the students that I saw on those videos. I used to imagine myself walking up the hill on 135th street on graduation day with my graduation gown and cap on and wanting to feel proud of that accomplishment. I did not think I would succeed, but in less than a month I will accomplish that goal as a Salutatorian of the Colin Powell School.
2. What brought you to City College?
I came to City College for the opportunity to be enrolled in the Skadden Arps Honors Program in Legal Studies and to learn from professors in the Political Science Department who would prepare me for the future. I wanted to finally realize my dream of becoming an attorney and an advocate working on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, the marginalized and those that do not have a seat at the table. The Skadden Arps Honors Program has a rich history of preparing students for that purpose and training them for a successful legal career. I knew that this program would prepare me for that endeavor. Another reason I came to City College was because the faculty of the Colin Powell School prepares students like myself that are interested in social justice to think critically about issues such as racial justice, the environment, and issues such as humanitarian intervention. Professors such as Richard Bernstein, Rajan Menon, and John Krinsky and many others are well known and respected professors in their field. I knew that by enrolling in many of these courses The Colin Powell School would give me the tools that I needed to be a successful advocate on behalf of the community.
3. What is your passion or purpose behind pursuing what you did at City College?
My goal is to work on behalf of the community I live in. I do not live too far from campus and I see that there is more work to be done in the community. We live in a time when so many people’s voices are drowned out and so many are not being recognized within the community. We also live in a time where there are so many voices that are divisive, and it is incumbent on all of us to be more involved. I would like to be a voice to the voiceless and help those that are marginalized, such as many of those in the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and others. That is my passion.
4. How did City College and the Colin Powell School help you in your career?
All the essay assignments helped me develop my critical thinking skills and my ability to write clearly. Also, I have found community at the Colin Powell School because I have met many students like myself that share many of the same endeavors, interests and passion to help others. All of this has prepared me to pursue my passion to advocate on behalf of the community for social justice and human rights. The continuous events and lectures held at the Colin Powell School have prepared me to be better informed and also laid the groundwork and the foundation for me to serve my community and prepared me to continue my education in graduate school.
5. Please tell us about a significant memory or accomplishment from your time at City College.
One significant memory is how happy I was to be accepted into the Skadden, Arps Honors Program. In the summer of 2019 when I started the program, I was so happy to meet Dean Andrew Rich, Professor Richard Bernstein, and Director Jennifer Light, who welcomed me into the Colin Powell School. That memory has stuck with me throughout my journey.
Although the Skadden Program was my main reason for coming to CCNY, I found so much more than that. I found professors who are passionate about the subjects that they teach such as sociology, political science, social justice, human rights, and international politics. I also found opportunities. I received, for example, the Herman Badillo Scholarship. I did not expect to get that honor, but it really helped me realize that the Colin Powell School was the exact place that I needed to be to prepare me for the future.
6. Do you have any advice you could give to current or future students?
The advice I would give to current or future students is that they should take each opportunity offered to them to learn as much as possible during their undergraduate journey at the Colin Powell School. The Colin Powell School will prepare them for success as an undergraduate, for graduate school, and way beyond the walls of the classroom. Besides all the extraordinary course offerings, the Colin Powell School offers the framework for an enriched learning environment, within the classroom by offering countless lectures with men and women in government and in fields that span all of the social sciences. I would also communicate to them that they should take advantage of the ability to be in cohorts like the Skadden Arps Honors Program, The Racial Justice Fellows Program, and the Spring Semester in Washington DC, a program that facilitates students to live, work, and study in the nation's capital. Finally, I would communicate to students to enjoy each and every moment of their journey at the Colin Powell School and to remind them that their undergraduate journey is a long distance marathon and not a sprint and that this journey that they are on has the potential to help them meet and exceed each and every one of their goals.