Yezmin Isabel Pena-Brown
Dental Hygiene
Hostos Student Ambassador
PTK Vice President of Leadership/Bronx CUNY Scholarship Winner
Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Award Recipient
Yezmin Pena of Colombian heritage was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela and arrived in the United States in 2003 to pursue her dream of getting an education. When she first arrived in the United States she did not speak any English, but over the past two years, Yezmin has blossomed and become one of the strongest representatives of the college as one of the inaugural members of the Hostos Student Ambassador program.
Yezmin enrolled at Hostos Community College in the fall of 2005 and has maintained a 3.2 average since that time. She is currently majoring in Dental Hygiene and upon graduation she is planning on enrolling in one of the specialized programs at New York University to fulfill her dream of getting her Bachelor’s Degree.
Yezmin is the first in her family to pursue and obtain a college education, and is serving as an example to her younger sister, who will soon be following in her footsteps. Yezmin and her family live in the Bronx, New York.
Yezmin is not only the winner of the Bronx CUNY Scholarship, but she has also won a Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Award and most recently was awarded a Circle of 100 Scholarship. Yezmin has taken on the task of representing the College through her active enrollment in the Hostos Student Leadership Academy’s Student Ambassador Program and is also the Vice President of Leadership in the Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society.
Last year, Yezmin was chosen to represent Hostos Community College at the National Conference on Student Leadership in Orlando, Florida as one of the inaugural class members of CUNY’s Student Investment Ambassadors.
Yezmin started her career at Hostos enrolled as a member of the CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP) and then moved into the English Intensive Program, before she started her work in the Dental Hygiene Department. She has overcome a great many obstacles to become the leader she is today.
Yezmin continues to strive for success in all of her academic areas, and is always on the lookout to help to initiate and make change in her home community as well as the world society.
Yezmin Pena was elected in April 2009 to serve as a Senator in the Student Government Association for the 2009-2010 school year.
Yezmin Pena is currently studying at Lehman College.