“Seeing climate changes and problems coming up because of human interaction makes me want help find creative solutions for a better balanced planet,” says BMCC engineering major Luis Aragon.
A BMCC Foundation Scholar and on the Dean’s List, Aragon is also a member of Phi Theta Kappa and volunteers with New York Cares.
“I’ve done everything from spread mulch in parks, to reading books with kids, to helping the elderly use a computer,” he says, and somehow also finds time to work part-time in a restaurant near his home in Queens.
Looking ahead
“Starting at BMCC is just the first of many steps,” says Luis Aragon.
Already accepted into the environmental engineering program at City College, CUNY, he’s thinking about a career “developing clean energy with a company like General Motors, or with companies that make wind turbines.”
He likes the idea of building a career in California, he says, because “they have the strictest environmental regulations.”
Meanwhile, he’s completing his associate degree at BMCC. Among his favorite classes are those in mathematics.
“I’m all about the numbers,” he says, and particularly enjoys Professor Barbara Lawrence’s differential equations class. “It’s a tough class but a challenge worth taking. She pushes the students to practice, and it’s engaging. She doesn’t give ‘easy A’s’.”
“Luis is an extremely bright young man,” says Professor Lawrence. “His interest in mathematics extends far beyond the classroom and he is the model of what a mathematics student should be: conscientious, mature and talented.”
Learning to co-exist
Aragon grew up in Bogota, Colombia and moved to Long Island City, Queens, in 2011.
“I love living in New York,” he says.
“You can find free shows in the street, there are the parks, street fairs, art on the piers. What I love most about this city and also about BMCC is that I can find a piece from every country, every day.”
Also, he says, there are lessons to be learned from the sharing of space and resources he sees at BMCC and throughout New York City.
“We need to learn to co-exist,” he says. “We’re smart enough to live here without destroying our planet. We have the resources, the know-how—we just need the will.”
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- BMCC Foundation Scholar Luis Aragon is also on the Dean’s List, a member of Phi Theta Kappa and volunteers with New York Cares
- Was accepted into environmental engineering program at City College, CUNY
- Wants to find creative solutions for a cleaner, more balanced planet
