Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am a freshman at SUNY Maritime College. I have been a member of Kipps Bay since the fifth grade. I have been on the Kipps Bay Makos Swim Team, a Maritime Junior Swim Team, an honor roll student, a member of the National Honor Society, on the cross country track team, the band,current member of the SUNY Maritime Swim team, and the SUNY Maritime Car Club. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. I would also love nothing more than to have my own shop. Cars are my passion. There are really no places here in Throgs Neck to fix cars. There are so many older adults that are pressured into paying more because they have no options. I hope with my engineering degree I can change this. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am a freshman at SUNY Maritime College. I have been a member of Kipps Bay since the fifth grade. I have been on the Kipps Bay Makos Swim Team, a Maritime Junior Swim Team, an honor roll student, a member of the National Honor Society, a few years on the cross country track team, the band a current member of the SUNY Maritime Swim team, and the SUNY Maritime Car Club. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. I would also love nothing more than to have my own shop. Cars are my passion. There are really no places here in Throgs Neck to fix cars. There are so many older adults that are pressured into paying more because they have no options. I hope with my engineering degree I can change this. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

My community is pretty important to me, I worked at St. Benedict’s Church, but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic, I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx, Throgs Neck included - that don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. These few places the children do have are things that need to be paid for and are not available year long. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equally. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rockclimbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. I can start by giving back to the community I was raised in. Then I can expand this to our other low economic-status communities in the Bronx and continue to grow and give back. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Cruz I am in the 12th grade at Salesian High School. There have been several obstacles placed on my family some have been financial burdens. Before going to Salesian I went to public school. Unfortunately, in public school there were some issues of bullying and not getting the necessary attention in my coursework, so I didn’t do as great as I think I could’ve. As a family we decided that I should go to Catholic school and hopefully not experience any of these issues again. My grades have gone up significantly since I’ve been at Salesian. In elementary school I was barely making it, grade wise, but now at Salesian I have been receiving first and second honors. My parents, make sacrifices to make sure I’m getting the best education I can get, even though they are separated, they agree on my education coming first. Since my dad is permanently disabled and on a fixed income, I have worked part-time at St. Benedict’s church, Salesian’s Echo Bay Summer Camp and at AVJ Mechanic Shop on Saturdays to try to help out as much as I can financially. Getting these weekend and afterschool jobs help in making tuition payments a little easier. My community is pretty important to me, as I stated above I work at St. Benedict’s but I often volunteer there as well. I have volunteered at PS 72, which was my local elementary school; helping teachers set up classrooms and even at the summer program. I used to be a member of Castle Hill Little League and always volunteered to help out with the events and with the younger baseball players. In the summer during the pandemic I started a cleanup by the beach, “Silver Beach” in the Throgs Neck area. My goal after high school is to become an engineer. When I become an engineer I plan to give back to my community in a few ways. One major thing I have thought about for years is that the children in certain areas of the Bronx this don’t have many things to keep them off the street. For example in this community there are a few parks, there is Kipps Bay Throgs Neck, and Throgs Neck Little League, but that’s it. I go to other areas and I see many different opportunities for kids, but not all are treated equal. There are sky zones, Chucky cheeses, roller skating rings, rock climbing but not in the community where I grew up. Once I become an engineer I plan to give back, by building or creating a place where kids can go to have fun and be safe. The phrase knowledge is power reminds me of a teacher who told me once that my education is choices. What that means to me is that knowledge and education makes you powerful and therefore gives you the ability to make choices. Once you are educated no one can take that away from you, that gives you power. The power to choose. You get to decide or choose where you want to live, what kind of house you want to live in, what company you want to work for, what kind of car you want to drive, and so on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself and I am thankful for any consideration my application is given.