Franciele
HPHS graduate Franciele is going to Connecticut College as a Posse Scholar and aspires to become an ER doctor.
One of CYD’s roles at HPHS is to help students identify and apply for scholarships. Franciele worked with her advisor, Ms. Diane, to apply to Posse, which awards full-tuition scholarships at partnering universities. They did intensive interview preparation. “At the Posse interview,” Franciele says, “a lot of the other students were saying they weren’t prepared – but because of Ms. Diane, I was on solid ground.”
Franciele grew up partly in Queens and partly in the Dominican Republic. “I’m really glad that I spent some of my school years there because now my Spanish reading and writing skills are strong.” Commuting from Jackson Heights to HPHS is long but “it’s worth it because of everything offered in this school. I’m doing the medical assistant program and interning at Mount Sinai, and CYD helped me so much with college. Ms. Diane’s office is like my free, open space where I can figure out my decisions.”
Franciele has always known she wanted to be a doctor. “It’s not just brains but knowing how to treat people. Those things have to coexist. And I believe that I have what it takes. I know I can do it.” At Mount Sinai, she discovered that emergency medicine was the field for her. “I love the chaos! It makes you realize whether you’re good under pressure, and I found out that I am.”
Connecticut College was Franciele’s first choice – “My family supports me 100%. Ironically, New York feels small to me because I grew up here. I want to build a life in a new place, but not too far from home. I’m going to miss my family and friends, but I want to try new waters and see what I can give Connecticut!”
