Colin Powell School
Finding Strength in Setbacks, from Hurricane María to Mental Health
After Hurricane María tore apart her community in Puerto Rico, Mónica Martínez-Raga enrolled at CCNY with tuition support that New York State provided to hurricane victims. In this interview, she tells her story of overcoming personal battles with mental health and self-confidence, falling in love with the study of economics, and taking full advantage of the opportunities available through the Colin Powell School. She emphasizes the importance of showing up to events, learning to network with people in your industry, and learning and growing through mistakes and failures.
Please tell us a little about your background and the early years of your college career.
I was born and raised between San Juan and Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, where I lived with both my parents and my younger sister. Back then, the only professions that I understood to hold the promise of success were medicine, engineering, or law. By the time I graduated high school, I planned on becoming a doctor. In retrospect, I chose medicine not so much because of any particular love for medical science. I was good at science and was genuinely interested, but frankly it was more for the recognition that came with being a doctor. I was a straight-A student my whole life. My identity was almost dependent on that type of validation, and becoming a doctor just seemed like the most fitting choice for the person I thought I was.
When I started my college career at Cornell University, the situation back home was less than ideal. My family was going through very difficult times, and as the eldest daughter, it took a huge toll on my mental health. I left Puerto Rico thinking I could escape what was going on, but things only got worse. I suffered a significant culture shock. I didn’t get used to living in rural New York with its long and dark winters, nor was I sufficiently motivated with my career choice to find the strength to excel. After my first year, I took a leave of absence. This was a big blow to my self-esteem. Everything I thought I knew about myself was in question. Was I really that smart? Able? Deserving? I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I was severely depressed. And instead of taking a break for myself, I thought I needed to make amends for what I thought was a failure. Immediately that summer and fall, I enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico. I continued the same cycle, completely frustrated as to why I couldn’t concentrate or care.
It wasn’t until January of 2016 that, with the help of my mom, I decided to take a real break. I got my first full-time job at a restaurant in Puerto Rico and started becoming more financially independent. This was a total morale boost. I was gaining a new sense of agency I never knew I needed. I started being more unapologetic about the choices I made and started thinking about what it meant to own my future. During this time, I worked, traveled, and started understanding who I truly was despite all the external validation I had received my entire life.
Talk about how Hurricane María affected your path to CCNY.
In September 2017, I was visiting my partner in New York City, when Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico. I was living with my father at the time. I could not return home because he didn’t have electrical power for over six months. As we now know, the situation was dire. The restaurant where I worked in San Juan lost its roof and went bankrupt. People were desperately trying to leave the island while the airports were shut down, banks ran out of cash, and multiple municipalities lacked potable water. I was essentially stranded in New York, while my island could not even manage to feed its own inhabitants. Luckily, I had friends who hosted me, which allowed me to take on two jobs while I figured out what to do next.
One afternoon in January 2018, after leaving work, I received an email that completely changed my life. I had been accepted to CCNY. About a month before, I had contacted CUNY because I saw in the local Puerto Rican newspaper that the NY State Government was offering in-state tuition for student refugees of Hurricane María. The number offered was that of an admissions officer at CCNY. With the help of some amazing staff members at the CCNY offices, some of whom had been refugees of natural disasters themselves, I transferred.
Frankly, I did not know much about CCNY before my transfer. However, I quickly learned that its commitment to amplifying access to education and upward mobility to the working class is ingrained in every aspect of the school. I found in CCNY a place that gave me more than a second chance—a community of people that were utterly dedicated to seeing their students flourish.
Why did you choose to study economics?
Something that has never changed since the time I wanted to be a doctor was that I want to help people. I learned that helping others is not a defined thing that only happens in certain circumstances. It is a way of life. Economics is just that, the study of how people make decisions and what best can be done to improve the quality of life of entire societies. I fell in love with economics. It is not only fascinating to me, but through debate and research, so much can be learned about how we are all interconnected on this planet, especially now during this global pandemic that has shifted economic circumstances for every single country in the world. I also believe in the importance of increasing diversity in the field of economics to improve the assumptions that are formed about our ever-changing and increasingly globalized economy. At the Colin Powell School, this is at the forefront. So many members of the school community are dedicated to increasing the presence of our diverse CCNY student body in our local and federal governments, as well as in non-profit and private corporations. I am privileged to be part of that movement.
How has the Colin Powell School helped you in your career?
The doors that opened for me and the mentors I gained at CCNY were opportunities I thought I had completely lost when I left Cornell. The Colin Powell School provided access to experienced college professors, fellowships and internships, industry experts that visited campus, tutoring, clubs, and projects that related to the Harlem/New York City community. As a result, I built my resume essentially from nothing, mostly through participating in any opportunity I had access to. A tip for students: always read your Citymail!
In my first year at CCNY, I worked with CUNY Service Corps, tutored on campus and got involved with several clubs. By the following year, I landed a finance internship at IBM with SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunities) thanks to CCNY’s career advisory office, CPDI. Following that, I participated in a CUNY-wide fellowship at Centerbridge Partners and completed a summer internship with Standard Chartered Bank which resulted in a full-time offer. Sometimes I can’t believe the progress, but it truly was a combination of initiative from my part (showing up to any event I heard of and talking to anyone that would offer advice) and the network Colin Powell School has built for its students.
I appreciated that at CPS you are expected to engage with the community beyond academia; and in a place like CUNY, the possibilities seemed endless. For example, a year after Hurricane María, I was able to return home as part of the CUNY Service Corps that sent hundreds of students to aid with hurricane relief efforts.
Throughout my college career at CCNY, I had a good balance between loving what I studied, finding newfound confidence, being an active member of society, and establishing a healthier mental state, which really grounded me. After three years at CCNY, I’m proud to have completed a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in French, and I graduated with honors.
What memories or accomplishments stand out to you from your time at CCNY?
I would like to share the story of how I landed two internship offers in 2019, because the story highlights the importance of showing up to events and dedicating time to your career path.
Many corporations in the US are realizing the importance of adding more diversity to their staff at a level that reflects the communities they serve. For this reason, in the fall of 2019 (pre-COVID), several banks brought in their top executives to chat with students and advertise their internship programs. I cannot stress this enough—if I hadn’t shown up to those events, I would not be where I am today. Relative to the best possible outcome, it is a small investment on the student’s part. You spend a few hours doing your research about the company, being up to date with news related to your industry, preparing questions and writing new ones from the information given at the events, and talking to the staff. These are people that have taken time out of their day because they want to work with CCNY students, people who otherwise will be inaccessible on the 50th floor of some skyscraper in Midtown. It is so important to show up!
When I first started attending such events, I totally bombed some interactions because I was nervous or unprepared. But those cringeworthy moments were nothing but lessons which allowed me to better manage such interactions in the future. Honestly, if I hadn’t failed several times before, I wouldn’t have learned how to best approach the opportunities I eventually got, which resulted in two internship offers! So, if I can encourage any student, ask well-researched questions and don’t be afraid to talk with industry folk. They are here because they want to get to know us. Oh, and don’t beat yourself up if you mess up, learn and prepare even more for the next one.
How have you been involved with City College since your graduation? Why do you stay involved?
I’m privileged to serve as a board member of the CCNY Business and Economics Alumni Society, which grants scholarships and manages events that serve business and economics students at CPS. I have also been invited to speak at some events at the Colin Powell School related to offering advice for students, as well as aiding recruiting efforts from my employer on campus. I plan on being involved for the rest of my life because I want to pay forward what CCNY gave to me. For this reason, I am also an avid advocate for increasing funding and accessibility to public colleges around the country and in Puerto Rico.
Do you have any advice for current or future students?
Be kind to yourself. As much as there are many opportunities to succeed in college, there are also many opportunities to fail. And because of this we can become our own worst critics. I say this as someone who has to come to terms with my less-than-linear path to graduation: only you can determine your worth. Not an A, not an F, not a rejection letter, not an empty resume. When I learned this, I realized I deserved second chances, and I stopped opting myself out of opportunities. I learned that my failures were nothing to be ashamed about. On the contrary, now they are essential parts of my story and growth, and they have led me to people and institutions who understand this too.