Learning Becomes Transformational for BMCC’s First Honors Program Graduate

At the college’s 54^th Commencement ceremony on May 31, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) is proud to have its first Honors Program Scholar — Liberal Arts major Yosef Friedman — crossing the stage.

“In all the Honors classes I was in, the students were eager to learn, and there was an atmosphere of, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s learn something’,” says Friedman, who grew up in Coral Springs, Florida. Then at age 13, he left home to attend a yeshiva,  a kind of religious boarding school, in Chicago.

“My family is ultra-Orthodox, originally from Russia and Poland. Going to yeshiva was part of the process of growing up,” Friedman says. “There was a dormitory and they supplied us with everything we needed so we could study the Talmud, Jewish law. From the age 13 to 23, I worked 14-plus hours a day studying ancient texts.”

Ten years of critical thinking and debate in a yeshiva gave Friedman a kind of advantage as a college student.

“The things I learned there have a very high significance religiously, spiritually and from a character perspective,” he says. “I think it taught me self-reliance, independence and how to budget my time.”

On the other hand, “I actually didn’t have any formal English education after eighth grade,” he says. “When I moved to New York and started working, I realized the things I wanted to do required skills and knowledge I didn’t have yet, like in the data sciences and electrical or computer skills. I started BMCC not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, and gradually figured it out.”

“Students find their own voices, as thinkers.”

Yosef Friedman hadn’t planned on being an Honors scholar when he started at BMCC.

“An old friend from childhood did an honors course at college and said it’s really good for your resume,” he says. “I looked it up on the BMCC website. I did one Honors course, Spring 2018, and realized I could handle it, so I took another one online. Then I did three Honors courses this semester, Spring 2019. I’m actually graduating with a 4.0 grade point average — that even shocked me. I didn’t know I could do that.”

After more than three years in development and pilot courses, the BMCC Honors Program launched in Fall 2017 with faculty-created Honors courses approved by academic departments.

Students completing five Honors courses — which have additional Student Learning Outcomes related to research, interdisciplinary work, disciplinary focus, service learning or peer review — are eligible to graduate with Honors.

For up to two of those five Honors courses, students have the option of selecting the Honors Contract, which enables them to work individually on faculty-guided research projects.

Friedman appreciated both the community in the Honors Program, and the professors. One of these was his philosophy professor, Andres Colapinto.

“I thought because I had studied philosophy in a yeshiva, I had everything I need to know in that area,” Friedman says, “but he turned the subject into something fascinating to me. He brought everybody into the discussion. I seriously enjoyed that class.”

Colapinto remembers those students as, “motivated, very interested in philosophy and excited to hear each other’s ideas.”

In an Honors course, he says, “students can really find their own voices as thinkers. Yosef came to class having read the assignments inside-out, and was ready to raise new questions, challenge the philosophers’ arguments, and hear what his classmates had to say.”

After class, the two would often walk back from Murray together, “and Yosef would ask me questions there hadn’t been time for in class,” he says. “His ability to think critically on his feet helped make the class vibrant, productive and fun for everyone, myself included.”

Making learning transformational

Another Honors Program class that stands out for Yosef Friedman was creative writing with his English professor, Jason Schneiderman.

“Professor Schneiderman really cared about the students,” he says. “I’ve been a bit of a bookworm so it was fun to understand how to build and create a narrative that really pulls in the reader. He nurtured us into becoming potential writers. ​”

Schneiderman, who was part of the team that created the Honors Program at BMCC, describes Friedman as “eager to meet any challenge. He always went above and beyond the assignment, finding a way to connect to the work so that he could then explore new frontiers.”

Having been involved in the creation and launch of the BMCC Honors Program, Schneiderman has perspective on the experience.

“Honors students have consistently impressed me with their eagerness to push past the basic requirements and find ways to make their own learning transformative,” he says. “Education demands rigorous examination — of the subject, of the discipline, of the world, and of the self —and our honors students have pushed themselves in ways that humble me.”

The academic rigor of an Honors Program course goes hand in hand with the study habits it takes to excel when given challenges.

In his Honors intermediate algebra and precalculus class, “Professor Liana Erstenyuk was no-nonsense, down to earth, very straightforward,” Friedman says. “She expected every single person to be there at eight in the morning; on time, no excuses. We also knew she would be there to help us with any little thing we didn’t understand.”

Erstenyuk has this memory: “The first question Yosef Friedman asked me was, ‘Professor, will I be able to manage this eight-hour class, if I am a full-time student and I keep a full-time job?’ I said, ‘Of course!’ We had a conversation about time management and the importance of keeping up with deadlines, to make sure that he is able to scaffold the new material.”

Despite his initial reservations, Friedman did well in the class.

“He asked detailed questions, going to the core of each concept,” says Erstenyuk. “He often solved the advanced problems, and most importantly, he cared about the other students, explaining the problems to them during group work with enthusiasm, patience and respect.”

The value of a liberal arts education

When Yosef Friedman moved to New York, he lived at first with his grandmother in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

“She needed someone to be with her,” he says. “My family was — and still is — in Florida. My dad is a rabbi. He moved to Coral Springs to start a community there which grew to a couple hundred families. He was on the scene during the Parkland shooting. It’s been very hard. His entire job is to help people. My mom is an elementary school teacher. There are 11 children in our family, seven boys and four girls.”

Throughout his time at BMCC, Friedman worked at an e-commerce company — and married a young woman introduced to him by his grandmother.

He describes his work as “selling stuff on the internet.” A family friend asked him to ship a box for him, “and four years later we grew into a company with 10-plus employees and a warehouse in Brooklyn that I oversee and manage,” he says. “My job is to make sure that everybody communicates with each other, and is motivated to be the best they can be at their job. We are always finding new technologies we have to be on top of. The marketplace is changing by the day.”

As of now, Friedman is waiting to hear on his transfer applications for Fall 2019 to NYU, Columbia and Baruch College.

“What I would like to do is major in computer engineering with a minor in business,” he says. “I could have started out as a business major at BMCC, but I wanted a little bit of everything. Being a liberal arts major taught me how to connect with people from every single background. They might not be going the same direction as me, but we all have a story to share with the world and it’s important for everyone to hear that message.”

He reflects on his experience at BMCC, and has this takeaway: “If someone were feeling overwhelmed with school, I would tell them, ‘You can do it’. One thing BMCC does well is give people the right guidance to succeed so that later on in life they can look back and say, ‘I did it at BMCC, so I can do it here, too’.”

 

 

 

For more information on the BMCC Honors Program, contact English Professor Jason Schneiderman, (212) 220-8000, Ext. 7393; Accounting Professor Joel M. Barker, (212) 220-8192 or Acting Provost Erwin Wong, (212) 220-8322.