Student Profiles

Wendy Fernández
Hostos engineering student Wendy Fernández might not look like your typical engineer, but she is part of a growing number of female students who are trying to change this educational anomaly.
Donita Sessions
To people who have served their country, Veterans Day is a special day. But for Air Force veteran and Hostos student, Donita Session, every day should be Veterans Day.
Jolisel Vargas-López
Jolisel Vargas-López doesn’t just want to help make a difference; she wants to create the difference.
Makea Lowe
It is hard to walk around the Hostos Community College campus and not run into Makea Lowe. Lowe lends her support to countless events, and as a Student Ambassador, she has also made a huge difference in the community.
Orlando Roche
Hostos student Orlando Roche is a hard worker; that is impossible to deny. But it has been his work helping others that has made him stand out.
Fevidaury Valerio
Fevidaury Valerio Arias is one of two Hostos Students to receive the 2014 CUNY Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Leadership Award.
Ameen Alhubaishi
Ameen has a 3.845 GPA and is studying Mechanical Engineering.
Dario Peralta
Nineteen-year-old Darío Peralta has lived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Lathrop, California...
Qudus Lawal
was born in Nigeria, West Africa in 1990 and grew up there with his six siblings until his father, who was already living in the United States decided to move the rest of his family here in 2008 after Qudus finished high school. Qudus is the brother of Hostos Student Ambassador Jubril Lawal, who in fall of 2008 had the rare opportunity to go...
Bien Naomi Pocorni
was born in Suriname, South America in 1988. She and her parents moved to Holland three years later and Bien grew up there and studied in Rotterdam at Caland Lyceum. She had hoped to study medicine in her country, but discovered that there were more significant and exciting opportunities available to her in the United States, so in...
Camonghne Felix
also known as Ka’Mone, is a freshman majoring in Liberal Arts at Hostos Community College. She is mentored by Prof. Weldon C. Williams III, Coordinator of the Black Studies Unit of the Department of Humanities, and she serves as an officer in the Black Student Union. Ka’Mone came to Hostos in August 2010 from Bronx Community High...
Jubril Lawal
was born in Flatbush, New York in 1986 and raised in Ogun State, Nigeria from the age of one until he turned seventeen. In Nigeria, Jubril fell in love with the sciences and was part of the JET Club. In the year that he graduated and turned seventeen, he returned to the United States by himself to pursue a higher education and to find a job in a...
Katherine Triunfel Rodriguez
was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic on March 26, 1992. Katherine attended grade school and high school in her country. After finishing her high school studies and graduating with a 4.0 GPA, Katherine applied to enroll in one of the most distinguished universities in Dominican Republic, Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre...
Mark Cruz
was born in “Spanish Harlem” in May of 1981 and grew up in New York City. He attended Norman Thomas High School and dropped out, because of the difficulties of life. He decided instead to get his GED and completed that in a timely manner. He started working part time with the Boys Club of New York and realized that in order to get a good paying...
Gretcher Hernandez
was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in 1993. She was raised by her mother and grandmother and attended private school for most of her young academic career prior to coming to the United States of America in 2009 after she graduated from high school. The decision to come to the United States at the age of fifteen for Gretcher...
Michael A. Cruz
was born in Manhattan to parents who migrated to New York City from Puerto Rico. His dad was born and raised in Arecibo and his mother was born and raised in the Capital, San Juan. Michael is the second youngest child of seven and spent the early years of his life in New York, but then travelled around the country and lived in Michigan, Florida...
Aboudoubaki Boukari
was born in Togo, West Africa and started his college education at Defitech, which is a private school in his home country, where he began his studies in accounting. In 2007, Aboudoubaki won a visa lottery and decided to come to the United States to get a more well-rounded education. After a few months studying English at a New York Language...
Ashlee Bustamente
was born in New York City, New York in October of 1990 and raised in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx, where she has lived for all of her life. Ashlee attended private parochial schools in the Bronx, where she studied religion and all traditional subject areas. She studied first at the Immaculate Conception School from the Kindergarten to the...
Enoch Sowah
was born in Accra-Ghana, West Africa in 1991 and grew up with his mother and two older sisters. He attended Prempeh College, an all-boys boarding school in Kumasi Ghana. In high school, Enoch became heavily involved in student politics and debate. He represented the school at every debate competition and won several awards and received...
Manuel Mercedes
was born in El Seibo, Dominican Republic in 1991 and spent most of his first 17 years in Santo Domingo. Manuel studied at Catholic institutions throughout his formative years and he began to be very engaged in athletic activities, such as swimming, which was a sport that he was talented enough in, that he won two medals when he was...